


how mikey spent mother's day

by adelfie



Series: mikey's yokai adventures [3]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Family, Friendship, Gen, a yokai adventure ohohoho, but the prior adventures are mentioned, fun times, you don't have to read the first two for this one to make sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 49,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24450772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelfie/pseuds/adelfie
Summary: Mikey has a feeling that the motherly voice in his head is a yokai. He doesn't want to worry Leo, so he's going to figure it out himself. Human!AU
Series: mikey's yokai adventures [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654459
Comments: 54
Kudos: 56





	1. the disembodied voice on friday

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got some free time!!! And immediately I started thinking about going on another adventure with Mikey. This is the 3rd one, so thanks for all the kind words that encouraged me! Don't worry, it still makes sense if you haven't read the first two :D So here we go, hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Mikey's still in eighth grade (13), Donnie's in tenth (16), Raph's in twelfth (18 bc he had his bday since the last one), and Leo's in his second year of college (19).

Mikey _loved_ the springtime. It meant that the sun would shine for longer, the ice cream trucks would come around again, and people would have barbecue parties that would fill the warm breeze with good smells. Mikey couldn't help but love it when it basically felt like the world was giving itself a hug.

_**Greetings, Michelangelo.** _

Outside, the sounds of spring rang anew: the melody of the birds, the harmonizing insects from the bushes, and the disembodied voice inside his head.

Wait, hold up.

The _what_?

 ** _The wrens seem to have found you,_** a woman's kind voice whispered, enveloping his brain.

"MIKEY, HEADS UUUUP!" came a holler.

"Whaa—?" Mikey looked up just in time to get smacked in the face with a rubbery red ball. It ricocheted off his face with a rich _boing_ , and Mikey landed on his butt in the left service box - a jarring reminder that he was in the middle of a dodgeball game with all his friends.

Fong wince-laughed, holding his hand out. "Ouch, that looked like it hurt. I tried to warn you."

Which Mikey was thankful for, but currently his brain was still processing being shaken up - physically and figuratively. There was a _voice inside his head_. What did it mean? Was he chipped? Was he bugged? Did he have _aliens_ in his brain?

As Mikey let his friend help him up, he might have dizzily said something like, "it's all part of the plan", but he wasn't sure. That ball had hit him harder than Raph's well-meaning shoulder pats (and those _stung_ ).

This time, Fong laugh-laughed. " _Sure_ , Mikey. I believe you."

A lazy whistle rang through the air, its tune dying out towards the end. Even with the lackluster time-out, the entire court stopped playing, the whisking of balls back and forth coming to a stop.

Their gym teacher (and substitute physics teacher for the day) Mr. Kraang pointed at Jennika, a tall girl with a pixie cut who'd been the one to whack Mikey in the face.

"That was an illegal throw. Neck and above is off limits," the middle-aged man drawled from the corner of the tennis court. He was splayed out in a lawn chair like a wrinkly blob. "This is supposed to be my _easy_ period, don't ruin it for me."

Jennika grinned unapologetically, but called out, "Sorry!" anyway. Then Mr. Kraang blew the whistle again to signal time-in, and the chaos resumed.

It was the last period of Friday. Normally, Mikey would have been in physics class, and not outside using the Eastman Middle School tennis courts as an impromptu dodgeball court. But for today, physics class had been merged with gym class on account of Mikey's physics teacher having had her baby earlier than expected and no substitute available. The gym was too small for their joint class, so they were out here, engaged in an _epic dodgeball battle._

It was worth it for the physics class kids — they'd all had a giant test yesterday. Mikey had spent every day this week and the weekend studying for it with Renet. Now that it was over, his brain felt like mush. Maybe that was part of why he was hearing voices.

Mikey's stomach growled, reminding him of his skipped breakfast. Maybe part _two_ of why he was so distracted.

 _That's what I get for sleeping through my fourteen alarms this morning,_ Mikey thought, clipping his golden blond curls on top of his head to keep them out of his eyes. _Donnie is always preaching that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Who knew that physics test would make me only a few Cheerios away from going crazy with hallucinations?_

That had to be it. Just a hallucination, nothing else.

"Ugh, that's _it_. We're pummeling them," Bradford grumbled from his team.

Mikey glanced up his friend. He was surprised and slightly touched to see Bradford glaring across the court in his defense.

" _S'not_ a big deal, my dude. My face is like, totally fine," Mikey said cheerfully. "All's chill in love and war and dodgeball, as they say."

"And this is no longer dodgeball. This is _war_ ," Bradford replied, stone-faced. "I've already got a target. Our friends are now our enemies, and we can only expect _treachery_ from those _back-stabbing convicts_."

Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Back-stabbing convicts? C'mon, Jennika's a tough opponent, but she's not _that_ bad."

Fong rolled his eyes as he hurled a ball across the court, nearly getting someone out but not quite.

"Don't mind Bradford, Mikey," Fong said with a conspiratorial grin. "He's just salty that _Xever's_ on the other team."

"We don't say _that_ _traitor's_ name around here, _Fong_."

From a few feet away on the other side of the center line, Xever seemed to hear them. He splayed his arms out in defense, jokingly offended.

Mikey laughed at the same time as someone else. The contagious bubbly laughter let him to turn and see Renet, his best friend. She stood by on his team, her arms up as she tried to catch one of the throws that suddenly zoomed at her. Somehow she managed to punch it instead of catching it, and it flung sideways to hit someone who was already out on the sidelines.

"Hey, _watch_ it!"

"OMG, sorry!" Renet cried immediately, wincing. "I'm so sorry!"

The ball was aggressively thrown back at her. Mikey caught it and flashed a smile at the short-tempered kid who'd thrown the ball.

"We're sorry," he called empathetically, sweetening his smile.

Not only did the kid soften and look a little less grumpy, but the others on the sidelines smiled back at Mikey and Renet. When Mikey turned back to his friend to hand her the ball, Renet gave him a grateful look.

"Thanks," she whispered, her face a little less red from embarrassment.

Mikey waved his hand in the air like he was pushing the grouchy kid's vibes out of the air. "It's no big thing."

"Is your face okay?"

"Totally intact, I promise," Mikey reassured her.

_**Michelangelo, you must find me. I have something to tell—** _

Mikey flinched at the voice just as Renet reached up to pluck something out of his hair.

"Oops, sorry," she said, then showed him a piece of tree bark between her fingers. "You had this woodchip in your hair."

"Wow, how did that get there?" Mikey wondered, rubbing his hair.

"Maybe it just jumped on you because it liked you," Renet said, mimicking the woodchip jumping.

Mikey snickered, but the voice in his head from seconds ago was definitely doing a great job of giving him the creeps. He waited for it to come again, but nothing came. His brain felt like his again. Totally normal.

 _So what was that bizarre voice just now? A yokai?_ He wondered. The thought hadn't crossed his mind before, but his heart picked up in anticipation. He opened his mouth to tell Renet - one of the only other people he knew who could see the mysterious invisible spirits like he could.

Out of nowhere, something big and dark came crashing at them. Mikey's eyes widened as a ball smacked Renet so hard she fell onto the ground with a grunt, her fist enclosed around the woodchip.

"Renet!"

"I'm okay," Renet said, sitting up with a good-natured laugh and rubbing her side. "Jennika's got an arm, huh? Now I know what your face felt like."

"No kidding," Mikey said, helping Renet up.

"You're _out_ , Tilley!" Jennika shouted across the court. "And you're next, Hamato."

Jennika, aka The Girl Who'd Nearly Taken Mikey's Head Off, grinned when he met her eyes. They had gym together and where she dominated in athleticism and strength, Mikey had her beat in agility and speed, much to her chagrin. Mikey could see the competitive spirit in the girl's eyes had flared up.

Renet moved off to sit on the sidelines. Jennika rolled her shoulders and her neck until Mikey could hear the cracking sounds across the court.

"So, Hamato. Ready for me to wipe the floor with your face?"

Mikey's face felt a little like Jennika had already done so, but he just quipped back, "Brave plans for someone who's going to be out of the game soon."

Jennika's jaw dropped a little, but a smile came through her scoff. "Oh, you're _on_."

At least a dozen kids on Mikey's team scattered as Jennika went chaotic.

Mikey dodged like a pro. Ducking, rolling, and squatting, anyone who tried to hit him was groaning with frustration. He was like a _slinky_. Dodging _this_ way, _that_ way, and repeat.

"STAY STILL, YOU LITTLE WORM -" Jennika roared.

"I'll help you get him!" Xever said.

Mikey tripped just as Xever aimed a sharp curve ball at him with the rubber dodgeballs. Mikey flipped out of the way, a new spurt of adrenaline through his veins. _Cowabunga!_

"Slick moves, Mikester!" Xever hooted from across the court.

"You _too_ , dude!" Mikey called back. "Awesome throw!"

"Thanks, I lift!"

Jason, a boy who always wore a snapback, scoffed. "We're trying to get him _out_ , X-dude, not _compliment_ him."

"Hey, I'm just trying to hide from Bradford. Oh, whoops, he found me again. Evasive maneuvers!"

Across the court, Mikey could hear Bradford hooting loudly at the opposing team as he hurled his attack at Xever with ferocity. Whether Xever managed to dodge or not was unseen as balls from both sides were hurtling through the air at chaotic levels. Out of the corner his eye, Mikey saw Fong get hit.

"TAKE NO PRISONERS!" Bradford screeched at the entourage he'd somehow assembled behind him. "FIRE!"

"I'm too young!" screamed Lita, a really short 12-year-old who had skipped a year (and was consequently in eighth grade with all the 13-year-olds). Caught in the crossfire, she sprinted across the court as dodgeball ammo hit her from both sides, one of her braids undone, her white hair a flurry over her shoulder. " _I'm too young!_ "

Mikey was so engrossed in the hilarity of the chaos that he almost missed Jennika's super-charged throw that came barreling at him from his blind spot. He turned at the last minute and opened his hands to hug the dodgeball as it hit. The force nearly knocked him over, but he managed to stay on his feet.

_**My wrens found you again, Michelangelo.** _

Mikey flinched, because _holy jump scare_ , and somehow tripped over his leg while stepping back. He landed flat on his back. For a moment, all he could hear was the sound of his heart beating in his ears.

"You're out, Jennika!" Mikey then heard someone shout, distantly. "Mikey caught your throw!"

"Perfect timing," Mr. Kraang called out, and blew the whistle, signaling the end of class.

Over the chatter of kids running to collect the balls to clean up, Mikey let out a vocal sigh as he sat up. He couldn't even enjoy his win. He had way too many questions!

Like, how was there a _voice_ in his head?

It was a woman's voice. And how did she know his name? And the thing about the wrens — weren't those a kind of bird?

"Yo, Hamato," said Jennika, spilling into Mikey's thoughts as she walked up. "Nice game."

"Nice game _back_ ," Mikey said, taking Jennika's outstretched hand to get pulled up. Something fell across his face, and he looked down at the pavement to see a… another woodchip. He picked it up, confused. Hadn't Renet taken one out of his hair earlier? What was he, growing these out of his head? Without thinking, he pocketed it.

"Got any plans for the weekend? Besides apparently collecting small pieces of bark?" Jennika asked with a smirk.

"You're _funny_ , Jennika, you know that? You should do stand-up!"

Jennika laughed. "Shut up."

Off the the side, Mikey spotted Bradford playfully tackling Xever, with Fong cracking up besides them as they rolled in the grass by the tennis courts. Kids around them gave them weird looks before taking off for the locker rooms.

"I'm going to sleep in this weekend, though. I stayed up almost every night this week studying for that physics test," Mikey told her, earning her understanding nod.

"That was pretty much torture. I studied with my mom's help, though. She teaches the stuff at the college."

"Whoa, _lucky_ ," Mikey said, pausing in scooping up a couple more balls at his feet as they walked. "That's awesome!"

Jennika punted a stray ball over to the group of kids who were close to the bag. Jason was the one who caught it, and dropped it in. He was helping Lita hold the bag open.

"Heh, I guess. I'm going to figure out how thank her this Sunday," Jennika said as they got to the bag.

"What's special about this Sunday?" Mikey asked, tilting his head.

Jennika cast him a funny look, but grinned nevertheless. "Ooh. You're one of _those_."

"One of what?" Mikey asked, blinking.

"Oh, you know," Jennika said with a casual shrug, but a teasing smile on her lips. "The kind of people that forget about Mother's Day."

Mikey felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Jennika was grinning, but there was no sign of malice in her eyes.

 _She… doesn't know,_ Mikey realized awkwardly. _I thought everyone knew._

Numbly, he dropped the dodgeballs he'd collected into the string bag that Lita and Jason were holding out. Although the majority of the class had pretty much left for the locker rooms back in the gym, he felt like the entire world's eyes were on him.

"I guess it just slipped my mind," Mikey said, giving her his default smile and hoping it didn't seem forced.

A lot of things about Mikey's life had changed since the summer between sixth and seventh grade. All Leo's plans of traveling across the country for university had been dropped to settle for a local college so he could stay close to family. Raph had grabbed a part-time job as an instructor's assistant at the local self-defense classes on the weekends, while Donnie had become a tutor on top of his own schoolwork. And in _his_ school, Mikey had become the kid who'd lost his dad. At some point, it was what everyone knew but didn't dare talk about in his presence.

With all that indirect attention during those times, Mikey had just _assumed_ that people knew about his mom - or rather, his _lack_ of one.

The silence after his answer seemed to last for ages. For some inexplicable reason, Mikey felt… well, he wasn't sure how to describe it. His skin felt like it was prickling, especially around his cheek and neck, and his stomach was doing flips. He couldn't fathom why.

"I'm going to bake a pie for my mom," Lita said, and relief washed over Mikey like a wave as someone else took the center stage of attention. "She loves apple pie. What are you going to do for your mom, Jason?"

"Make her a card, for one. But my dad and I are going to try to make her favorite foods all day," Jason told them. "Breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Isn't your mom a chef?" Lita asked.

"Yeah. But we're using her cookbook so it comes out the way she likes," Jason said with a shrug. "Hopefully she'll like it."

"I - I bet she will," Mikey chimed in. "That's a really awesome idea."

"Taking notes, Hamato?" Jennika teased. "Considering you forgot and all?"

 _Not especially,_ Mikey wanted to say. _Considering I don't have a mom to celebrate._ But he didn't want to say that and make Jennika feel bad. He laughed along with the others, and the topic naturally changed, their conversation carrying as they walked back to the gymnasium.

The sky grew a little cloudier, and Mikey could see the early onset of a rainstorm through the locker room window as he got changed out of his gym clothes. His phone buzzed, and he hopped on one foot trying to get into his jeans as he picked it up to see a message from Leo, checking in on him.

_R u walking home now?_

_Yep, on my way!_ Mikey texted back.

He finished changing and shrugged on his backpack, his mind continuously rerouting back to the conversation he'd had with Jennika. Mikey sighed, long and dramatically.

_Why am I thinking about that, anyway? Mother's Day never really bothered me before. I'm so weird. I should probably be thinking about the super creepy weird voice I heard during dodgeball. Where did it come from? Where did it go?_

Worry and curiosity spiked in Mikey's chest at that. But most of all, a weird sense of _anticipation_.

After all, there was a pretty good chance it was a yokai.

* * *

When Mikey found Leo in the master bedroom's walk-in closet at home that afternoon after his shower, he hesitated before going inside and making himself known.

_This is not going to go well, is it?_

Okay, for the record? All of Mikey's brothers were pretty awesome. Donnie had the brains, Raph had the brawns, and Leo was just… perfect.

No, for real! There was just something about Leo's _natural grace_ that had people flocking towards him. When teachers saw Mikey's last name on their attendance sheets, they would get a wistful look in their eyes and bring up Leo, who they'd had six years before Mikey, like he was some kind of living legend. Leo didn't consider himself popular, but Mikey knew it was all in humility — after all, Leo was literally friends with the mayor.

Okay, well. Friends with the mayor's _son_ , more technically, because they went to the same college and all.

But whatever. _Still_. The way Leo's charisma worked was _impressive_.

In Mikey's eyes, it made him kind of perfect.

And with all that awesomeness already taken up in the family register, Mikey had felt so special after making a discovery a few months ago that set him apart from his brothers.

He could see _yokai_.

Yokai, as in the mysterious mystical spirits that humans couldn't see. The same illusive creatures from Japanese folklore that their father Yoshi used to tell them stories about. Not only were they were real, but Mikey could see them. It was basically his own personal superpower!

And yet… they'd all learned on Valentine's Day that yokai could be pretty dangerous.

Leo had been concerned. A lot.

He'd even made Mikey stop hanging out with Klunk, the awesome and adorable cat-yokai with owl features and way too many tails that had followed Renet into the city after she'd moved there. The cat-yokai normally hung out wherever Renet went, but on Leo's request, Renet was trying her best to keep the yokai in her room. It had only been a couple months, but Mikey really missed the furball.

Mikey now stared at Leo's back as his oldest brother rummaged through a box of old things, oblivious to the fact that the youngest Hamato was still hesitating on starting the conversation.

 _Just say it!_ Mikey thought, pumping himself up and practicing in his head. _Leo, something weird happened today._

Okay, no. That would set all sorts of red flags for Leo. Something else, something else…

_Leo, I was playing dodgeball with everyone today, and I heard a voice in my head telling me that it had found… me…_

What was Leo supposed to do with that?

"Oh, hey, kiddo," Leo said, seeing Mikey hovering in between the doorway. "You're back!"

"Back and showered and smelling great, thank you, soap," Mikey said cheerfully, pushing aside his inner turmoil for a moment. He scooted forward, shaking his wet hair at Leo. " _Smell me._ "

Leo's eyes crinkled as he laughed, shaking his head.

"C'mere, silly," he said fondly before moving aside to let Mikey sit next to him.

Mikey cast a look inside the box. It was full of mostly their old clothes and junk and some other smaller boxes. "What are you doing?"

"Just going through a few things," Leo said. "I accidentally broke a picture frame, and I think we have another one in here."

" _You_ broke something?" Mikey gasped dramatically.

"It decided to fall apart in my hands," Leo amended himself easily, making Mikey laugh. "It was old, I promise."

"So now… we're looking for an even _older_ picture frame," Mikey said as Leo pulled out a cardboard box. It kicked up a cloud of dust.

A twinge of a smile appeared on the eldest Hamato brother's mouth. "It _is_ true that some of these things are older than you."

"Like what?" Mikey asked.

Leo pulled out a thick book with cloth binding that looked worse for wear. Mikey instantly recognized it, but Leo spoke the words aloud anyway. "Exhibit A. Dad's dictionary."

A few months ago, Mikey couldn't talk about their late father without getting his voice caught in his throat and his eyes starting to smart. He still missed his dad terribly, and it still hurt sometimes. But now a smile came to his mouth, and warm memories felt like they were floating through the air.

"He loved that thing more than the Internet," Mikey said.

Leo smirked. "Remember when Donnie and Dad got into that competition?"

"Yeah," Mikey said with a snort. "Donnie was trying to prove that online dictionaries were superior by finding a word that wasn't in Dad's dictionary."

"Wasn't it something like 'sleet'?"

"I think it was 'slush'."

Leo chuckled and gestured to the large box full of stuff. "You can poke around in there, too. It's a small frame, rectangular."

"What picture is it for?"

"It's of Raph and Donnie at this bake sale when they were in middle school," Leo said, and Mikey got to searching, sticking his arms into the big box and moving things around. "How was school, though?"

"Oh! It was…," Mikey hesitated. "Um. Good. I sort of… we played dodgeball in physics class today."

"Sounds like fun."

"It was. Bradford was being funny. Jennika was totally awesome. And Renet was on my team, and she found a woodchip in my hair."

Why was Mikey telling him all this?

"Fun, fun," Leo said, listening half-distractedly.

How could he gently broach the subject of yokai? He didn't want Leo to freak out.

"Um… Leo?"

"Yeah?"

Mikey gulped. "So… about, like, Klunk."

Leo hummed, pulling out a folder full of old documents and flipping through it.

"What's the dealio with letting me hang out with him again?" Mikey asked. "I mean. He's pretty harmless. He's just a cat."

Leo sighed. "Seriously, Mikey? No."

"What? But I-"

" _No_. We talked about this."

"We didn't, actually," Mikey said. "You were the one who was all, 'no more yokai investigating', which I agree with, because wow, last time was a mess, but then -"

"'Hanging out' with a yokai is a form of investigating yokai, in my book," Leo said with a deeply irritated sigh. "It'll lead you straight into trouble like last time."

"But Leo, Klunk -"

Leo snapped the folder shut. " _No, Mikey._ How many times do I have to say it? _No_. End of discussion."

"We barely _had_ a discussion," Mikey mumbled, annoyed. With that avenue shut, how was he supposed to bring up what happened today?

_Leo, I think a yokai is telepathically communicating with me._

Nope, no way.

Clearly, Leo was already so hyper-sensitive about yokai and Mikey getting into trouble that saying something like _that_ would no doubt create a fiasco. And Raph and Donnie were snitches of the highest degree when it came to protecting Mikey, so there was no way he could recruit _them_.

Mikey engrossed himself in shuffling through the box, feeling Leo's gaze on him linger for a moment. Then Leo seemed to go back to searching through his own box. Mikey knew Leo probably felt bad about saying 'no' so much, and that it wasn't fair to stay angry at him. But Mikey _wasn't_ angry, honest! He was just… just…

Mikey froze, then slowly his hands pulled out a picture frame that was already framing a picture. His heart jolted at the image, and suddenly he was looking at something that he had never seen before.

It wasn't like they _didn't_ have other pictures of her. She'd died when Mikey was small, so as soon as Mikey was old enough to wonder, his father had supplied him with the family album, which had nearly a dozen photos of the beautiful blond woman in bright, colorful outfits, usually overalls over a t-shirt. Her blond locks were something Mikey had unabashedly inherited from her, as well as her smattering of freckles that stretched down to her neckline. Donnie had a lot of her nose, Mikey had always noticed. And everyone said that Raph had the same eye shape. Leo had always resembled their father more, barely sharing any features with their mother.

But in this picture, with Daffodil Hamato standing in the doorway of a house that was no longer their home, her hair tied back and her mouth in a pressed line, trying not to burst out laughing at whatever goofiness the little black-haired toddler in her arms had said to her in total seriousness, Mikey could see something mischievous that glinted off that expression in a way that was definitely _all_ Leo.

Mikey smiled, sort of awed by how genetics worked their magic like that.

Maybe if their mother were still here, Leo wouldn't have to worry so much about him. Maybe then they could've all seen Leo make that funny little expression more.

"Mikey?" Leo asked. "Did you find something?"

Things weren't like that though, and Leo already had so much to worry about. Part-time jobs, bills, taxes, college, groceries. The least Mikey could do was keep his yokai stuff to himself, while not putting himself in danger.

"Yeah, actually. Exhibit B," Mikey said, and turned to hand Leo the picture frame.

"Thanks, Mikey. Oh, hey," Leo said, his voice going all soft when he saw the picture. "Where was _this_ hiding?"

"Dunno, but it's super nice. We should keep it out. You were _adorable_ , Leo."

Leo laughed softly, the smile not leaving his lips. "C'mon. It's almost time for dinner."

"While you're in a good mood, can I hang out with friends tomorrow?" Mikey asked, walking out behind him. " _Human_ friends?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Buttering me up, I see. Sure, Mikey."

Mikey squeezed Leo's midsection before skipping into the kitchen, a plan in his mind and a smile on his face.

 _It's time to call Casey and Renet,_ Mikey thought. _I might not be allowed to investigate yokai, but they totally can for me!_

_No, don't mentally look at me like that, conscience. This is a loophole. Everything's going to be totally chill!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I practically grew up on taizi's tmnt human aus (although all her fics are pure gold!) and in her fic 'if wishes were fishes' the boys' mom's name was Sunny so I picked Daffodil purely due to the similar aesthetic, which I vibe with. (I would have used Tang Shen as the boys' bio mom, but I didn't know how to explain Mikey's blond hair lol). As a reader, I highly recommend checking out her fics if you haven't yet because she arranges her sentences like the words are flowers. :D


	2. bird chasing on saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I've been plotting and writing between my life stuff recently, but now I can continue the journey! Thanks for the lovely words you left me, and I hope you enjoy :)

Casey had work on Saturdays, so the next afternoon Mikey threw on a sweatshirt (orange with a gray stripe hugging his midsection, the true peak of fashion over here) and practically flew over to Mr. Murakami's restaurant.

Yummy smells and loud chatter filled the air the moment he opened the door to walk in. Currently, the shop had quite a few customers, but since it looked like nearly everyone had been served, the after-rush-hour calm was setting in. Mikey grinned, feeling proud of his planning: he'd timed it so that he would arrive right after lunch. Casey worked the lunch and dinner shifts, but he was on break between the two rush hours. So that made this the _perfect_ grab-Casey-and-go plan.

Walking down the main aisle, Mikey spotted Mr. Murakami manning the cooking station at the center of the restaurant, expertly tossing veggies in a skillet with one hand, and his other deftly stirring something in a tall pot.

"Hi, Mr. Murakami!"

The old man with easy-to-smile features brightened at the sight of him.

"Welcome, Michelangelo!" he said in his wonderful Japanese accent.

Renet's head appeared from the adjacent side of counter, her face totally red as she slurped up a bowl of noodles. Mouth and hands full, her eyes widened.

"OMG, Mikey!" she said, but with a mouth full of food.

" _No_ way. I didn't know you would be here, too!" Mikey exclaimed to her.

Renet made a sound of greeting through her food. Freeing up one hand, she gestured to the seat next to her, waving him over. On her back she wore a mini backpack. Mikey recognized it as the one Renet liked to wear on school trips — it had a sparkly blue unicorn with a pineapple-shaped tail on it. Mikey had named him Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt.

It looked like she'd come her just by herself, without her mother. Either way, Mikey zoomed over there with a giant grin on his face and slid into the barstool next to her. She fanned her face with her hand, and Mikey realized that her bright red noodles were spicy.

Renet swallowed her bite. "Did you come here to eat, too?"

"Nah, I had lunch already. I have news for Casey _and_ you, so it all worked out! But, um, what are you having?"

"The Super Spice Special, Dragon Fire Noodles doused in Volcanic Lava Oil Chili Sauce."

Mikey let his jaw drop open. He'd been trying to get Leo to let him try that specific menu item for months. As Renet stuffed her face, looking like she'd run a marathon while crying non-stop, he felt a little jealous.

"Is it _delicious_?" Mikey begged to know.

Renet nodded, panting. "I think so. But I can't," _pant_ , "feel my," _pant_ , " _tongue_."

"I want to _be you_ when I grow up," Mikey told her in complete admiration.

"I thought I heard someone I know," said someone from nearby. "Don't _encourage_ her, Mikey, geez."

Turning in his seat, Mikey spotted a mop of black hair appear behind a stack of used dishes. In the middle of the chatter-filled restaurant with his arms full of dishes, Casey looked at both of them - at Renet with concern, and at Mikey with a smile.

"Hi, Casey!"

"What're you up to?" he asked.

Mikey batted his eyelashes. "I had a feeling you missed me, so, here I am!"

Despite his denial, the high school sophomore gave him a crooked little grin. "I don't. You _and_ Renet are a total pain, bothering me all the time."

Mikey laughed. _Totally guilty as charged, dude! Well - the second part, at least._

But he knew Casey wasn't being serious. Hanging out at Mr. Murakami's shop after school wasn't uncommon for the three of them — Casey worked here, and sometimes Mikey and Renet would do their homework here.

After all, the three of them could see yokai. That's what had brought them together.

Casey's eyes landed on Renet, who had tears pooling in her eyes from the spiciness. "Hey. Pigtails. Cool it down."

"Sorry," coughed Renet, lifting her head from her bowl and grabbing a napkin to wipe her mouth. Mikey pushed her glass of water closer to her. "Am I, like, being too gross? Super sorry!"

Maybe Renet defined 'gross' differently than he did, because Mikey didn't think so. He loved stuffing his face with food. He was a growing kid, after all.

"No way," he reassured her. "Besides, you haven't really learned the meaning of the word until you experience my brother Raph's farts breaking the sound barrier —"

"Okay! As awesome as Raph is, this is a restaurant, Mikey," Casey exclaimed loudly, cutting Mikey off as he loaded a fellow employee's cart with his dirty dishes to take into the back kitchen. Over Renet, who was now wheeze-laughing, Casey took her half-completed noodle bowl, too. "And you're not gross, Renet. I'm just concerned you're just going to make yourself sick if you drown yourself in spices to avoid dealing with your problems."

Working at Mr. Murakami's had really transformed Casey into a concerned parental figure.

"I'm okay! It's not that spicy!" Renet tried to say, but got overruled by Mr. Murakami as well.

"Your mother loves you very much, Renet," the man said gently as Casey hurried off to collect some more dishes. "Perhaps if you -"

Renet interrupted him with a loud laugh that didn't sound natural at all. Her eyes darted between him and Mikey. "OMG, Mr. M, um, do you, like, have free samples of anything for Mikey?"

"I can check," Mr. Murakami said, smiling sympathetically at the bubbly girl.

Mikey _definitely_ wasn't complaining if he was going to get free samples, but he couldn't ignore the panic in his friend's eyes.

He looked at Renet, confused. "Did something happen?"

Renet shook her head, her long blond and wavy pigtails shaking with her rapid movements as if they were gesturing denial too.

"Nothing! It's all good, Mikey!" she said with a little laugh. She turned to face him completely, smoothly crossing her legs and not-so-smoothly bringing her glass of water to her lips. Patting her shorts with a napkin to absorb the water that had splashed over, she said, "Tell us your news!"

"Uh, sure," Mikey said, drumming all his fingers against the countertop. "I know Casey's almost on his break, but do you have some time to spare after this, Renet?"

"Yeah, sure," Renet said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I can hang out."

"I actually sort of have a mission," Mikey said. Then he amended, "Well, half of a mission. Okay, actually, I don't have a clue about what to do, but that's what I thought I'd figure out with you guys."

"Interesting!" Renet said. "This works out, because I need something to distract me from my… er, my… um… messy… room."

Mikey stared at her. "Okay."

"Y'know, because my room is a total pigsty, and I don't want to clean it. I don't even want to think about cleaning it! Believe it, Mikey!"

"I mean, I wasn't doubting you."

"You looked like you were doubting me."

"No, I wasn't!"

"You _so_ were!" Renet turned, spotting Casey as he passed them again. "Casey, are you almost done? We like, need you for a mission."

"Pretty much, I think," Casey said, but then someone came to the counter and he stepped away, needing to ring them up. "Okay, hold up the mission business. Be right back."

Mr. Murakami chuckled.

"You kids and your little shenanigans," he said, pouring Mikey a glass of water. "Here. It's quite important to stay hydrated!"

Mikey accepted the glass of water with a 'thank you' and took huge sips. The ice cold water washed down his throat and gave him time to sort out his entanglement of feelings. He was excited to share the news with his yokai-seeing friends, but at the same time, he was nervous.

Most of all, however, he was _intrigued_.

What did this yokai want with him? Who was this yokai, exactly? How did they know _him_ , personally? That was the most important question. It was taking a lot of effort to think, so Mikey was especially pleased when Mr. Murakami gave him a plate of free sushi samples to go along with his water. Free samples were the _best!_ And yet, his happiness mixed in with his continuing anticipation, filling him with restlessness because he couldn't decide on a single emotion.

He thought about what the voice had said to him yesterday.

_Michelangelo, the wrens seem to have found you. You must find me. The wrens…_

Wrens.

Why wrens?

Wait, why couldn't he just ask someone who knew lots about birds?

"Mr. Murakami?" Mikey piped up to the man still manning the cooking station with gusto. "You like birds, right?"

Mr. Murakami nodded, pausing slightly to look thoughtfully out towards a window across the restaurant. Following his gaze, Mikey was immediately reminded of the first yokai he'd ever seen. It had been the spirit of a bird who had been friends with Mr. Murakami before its life had been cut short.

"I would like to say so, yes," the kind old man replied.

"Do you know anything about where I could find some wrens?" Mikey asked hopefully. He'd done a search on his phone, and he pulled up images of the small bird on the internet to show the man.

Mr. Murakami frowned. "Hmm, I sometimes see small birds like that around here. But what do you want to know?"

"Um," Mikey hesitated, "I don't really know what I want to know. Maybe… where's a good place to go bird watching?"

Mr. Murakami looked thoughtful. "The Eastman Botanical Garden is a wonderful place for some bird watching. I usually go there on my days off."

"Oh, I've been there before," Renet said with a gasp. "Once. When my mom had to go to city hall and I waited outside."

"Yes, Eastman City Hall is right next to the botanical garden," Mr. Murakami noted.

"What botanical garden?" Casey asked, coming back around the counter with his apron tugged off. "I'm on break finally. What's the mission? What are we talking about?"

Renet shrugged. "I think birds?"

"I'm sure you could find your wrens there," Mr. Murakami suggested to Mikey.

_Hmm. I guess it's worth a shot!_

"Thanks, Mr. Murakami! We'll totally check it out," Mikey said, turning to a totally confused-looking Casey and Renet. "Guys, I officially have a plan."

* * *

"Scheme. You mean scheme," Renet said gently as Casey drove them to the Eastman Botanical Garden.

Mikey had never been to the place, weirdly enough. It was a little out of their way, not to mention located right next to the glorious building of Eastman City Hall. Sitting between Casey and Renet in Casey's older-than-them old pickup truck, Mikey denied the accusation fervently.

"No, what? Noooo."

Casey went over a little pothole and they all bounced in their seats. The leather of the bench seat was so worn in that the divots had divots. The radio was totally busted and the GPS didn't even turn on anymore, so it was Mikey's job to hold up Casey's phone to navigate as the older teen drove.

He'd told Casey and Renet about the disembodied voice, and he was glad to have finally got that off his chest. Right now, however, Mikey was trying not to feel too guilty.

Renet was pretty good at picking out the facts, though. "Do your brothers even know where we're going?"

Mikey shifted in his seat. "They know I'm with you and Casey. Leo never told the two of _you_ to not investigate yokai anymore, so..."

Casey snorted. "Nice, dude. Loophole."

"It's a scheme," Renet said with wide eyes. "We're criminals."

"It's an adventure!" Mikey protested. "You love adventures!"

"Yes, but, like, let's not forget the wrath of your big brother! My gosh, I don't want to go behind his back," Renet said. With a lowered voice, she added, "He's _kinda_ scary when he's mad."

Casey nodded seriously. "Raph, right?"

"No. I'm talking about Leo," Renet replied.

"Um, what? Leonardo Hamato is like, the nicest person ever."

"Right, I mean, _sure_ , but he's not someone who you want to cross, _especially_ when it comes to Mikey's safety!"

Mikey felt a twinge of annoyance at Leo for scaring his friends, even on accident. Sure, Leo was normally chill, but Mikey knew Renet had seen Leo's Scary Face a couple of times during the school year: like the time Mikey'd gotten a bloody nose from a little sixth grader's clumsily-timed jazz hands in the hallway or the time he'd gotten a stomach ache after lunch on Shrimp Taco Day. Both times Renet had waited with him in the main office and chatted nonstop to cheer him up until Leo had come barreling in, his electric eyes framed by sharply angled eyebrows. Leo naturally had that look on his face whenever one of his brothers were in trouble.

Mikey cleared his throat. "He won't get mad at you guys!" _What's the grown-up thing to say here? Oh, right._ "I'll take responsibility for my own actions. But I just want to make it clear that I am not planning on getting almost eaten by a yokai or anything."

Renet shuddered. "Like last time."

"Like last time," Mikey agreed.

"Also last time I wasn't with you guys, so I just would like to make that point," Casey said, making a turn off the main road according to the navigation on his phone that Mikey held up. "I could _totally_ wrestle a seven-foot-tall spider lady."

"Besides," Mikey punctuated, because he didn't want to keep thinking about the Valentine's Day catastrophe, "This yokai feels harmless!"

"See, that's like the thing though," Renet said. "Mostly all the yokai I ever saw before moving to Eastman were totally harmless! But here there seems to be like, _fewer_ yokai, but of the ones that _are_ here… they're _wild_."

"Do you think that has something to do with the yokai barrier?" Casey asked curiously.

"I don't have a clue," Renet said. "But that barrier sure is weird."

"You can say that again," Mikey agreed.

There was a reason Mikey and Casey had discovered that they could see yokai only a few months ago while Renet had been seeing them all her life. The barrier that surrounded Eastman stopped most yokai from coming through — and Renet hadn't grown up in Eastman, like the boys had. So she'd been exposed to the _real_ world and had always seen dozens of harmless yokai scurrying around.

"You know what would be really awesome?" Mikey asked. "If there was a group of yokai experts we could just ask for the answers."

Renet nodded with a huff. "Or a website we could go to."

"Yeah, too bad there's nobody," Casey mused. "We couldn't even find that leather belt guy."

"Leather _head_ ," Mikey and Renet corrected him.

Mikey sighed, thinking of the mysterious guy who had disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared when he'd rescued Mikey and his friends. He was the only other person Mikey knew who could see yokai other than Casey and Renet — and seemed to know a lot more about yokai than they did. All Mikey knew about him was that he was a yokai hunter, but even after weeks of searching, he couldn't find proof of Leatherhead's existence anywhere, on social media or in real life.

It was definitely a mystery.

 _Add that to the list of Things I Don't Know,_ Mikey thought. _Along with why I can see yokai and the bros can't, or why the yokai barrier exists, or what exactly these yokai are…_

They fell into a comfortable idle chatter mixed in with comfortable silences for another few minutes, and finally they arrived. Casey slowed to a stop in front of a field that had been fenced off and a tall metal gate stood at the entrance. Past the gates, it was all nature. Green trees and floral beds framed the brick walkway that led through the garden, getting lost behind the thicket of the leaves.

Casey parked in the mostly empty parking lot in front of the gate. They hopped out of the car. Mikey stretched out his limbs, wiggling his arms. Renet pulled out her phone.

"I'm going to take pictures," she explained to Mikey and Casey.

Casey glanced at his own phone. "Crap, I'm almost out of battery. I'll have to charge it when I get back to the restaurant."

"'Cars will be towed after 24 hours'," Renet read aloud from a nearby sign of the parking lot.

"Well, we're not going to be parked here anywhere near that long," Casey snorted.

Mikey felt a thrum of anticipation, but restrained himself from getting too hopeful for answers. After all, this was a total guess.

 _Just keep your eyes peeled for wrens,_ Mikey thought, and allowed himself to walk up to the gate after his friends. Up ahead, the brick walkway was about six feet wide, and lined on either side with solar lights that looked like tulips.

"Wow," he said as they started on the path.

The garden thrummed with life. The wind seemed to hum, and the birds sang and chattered in the afternoon sun. The trees nodded at them as the air ruffled their feathers. A nice breeze danced around Mikey, tickling his skin and making his sweatshirt billow. Spring really _had_ come around.

There were more flowers as they kept walking. Mikey spotted flower beds of red, pink, purple, yellow, and white. They were so many different shapes and sizes — big, little, half open in bloom, some of them still sealed tightly, still growing. Green bushes lined small murky ponds with lily pads. Frog noises filled the air, as well as the occasional quack from a duck Mikey couldn't see, as they passed the water. Mikey laughed as a butterfly crossed his path, fluttering through the air to land on a juicy leaf. Maybe he'd tell Leo about this place and they could come here once in a while. It was super Zen.

"Oooh, these flowers look like they're reaching out for the sky," Renet said, pointing to a cluster of orange-tinged snowy tulips. She took a picture of it on her phone. "Oh, and these ones totally look like they're all holding hands! How cute!" She took a picture of a batch of blushing roses.

"This flower looks like a butt," Casey observed of a still-budding one, and Renet took a picture of that, too.

They walked along the path for a while. Renet continued to take pictures, and Casey strolled along with some level of interest. Mikey scanned the skies, stopping for a moment. There were a few birds, but nothing special was happening. No wrens, no voice.

 _I guess there's nothing here,_ he thought. _Nothing yokai-related, anyway._ He opened his mouth to break the news to his friends, but they were ahead on the path. Mikey hurried after them.

They were in front of a water fountain surrounded in vines. Renet had found a bench to sit on while Casey tied his shoe. When Mikey approached them, Renet grinned.

"According to the map of this place on my phone, the pathway is a mile long," she said. "Isn't that cool?"

"Well, I can't stay here long. I have to get back to the restaurant to have dinner, and then prep for the dinner rush. Have you found anything yet?" Casey asked Mikey.

"No," Mikey told his friends with a groan, plopping himself down on the bench. "There's nothing."

Renet pressed her lips together. "Sorry, Mikey. I know you were excited about figuring this out."

"Don't be. This was a long shot anyway. Sorry to make you guys come over here for no reason," Mikey said.

"Nah, this isn't a bad way to spend my Saturday," Renet chirped.

For some reason, that made Mikey remember that tomorrow was Mother's Day, and he felt a heavy weight of guilt and something even worse in his chest. He tucked his knees under his chin. "You sure? I mean, I totally forgot that you guys might want to shop for Mother's Day stuff or something."

"I've already got that done," Casey said with a shrug. "You're good."

Renet stiffened. "Yeah, t-totally. Me too."

Casey raised an eyebrow at her, and Mikey sensed the weirdness again. Ignoring it for now, Mikey stood up.

"Let's go back, then," Mikey said.

"Hey, it's okay. Maybe the voice will come back and tell you where it lives," Renet said, standing up and nudging Mikey's elbow with hers to cheer him up.

It was nice of her, and it helped a little, but Mikey ultimately felt silly. Maybe it was wishful thinking after all.

 _Maybe I just wanted an adventure to distract me this weekend,_ he thought. _So I wouldn't need to think about what Jennika said yesterday._

He knew she hadn't meant any harm, but it was like her words had inadvertently pricked at something inside of him that he didn't want to think about. Talk about insecurities! In his rush to not feel bad for himself, he'd dragged his friends on this quest for no reason.

_**Michelangelo, I need you.** _

Mikey had been taking a step forward when he froze, the voice in his head the same as the one he'd heard yesterday.

"No way," Casey breathed.

For a moment, Mikey thought he'd heard the voice too, but when he looked over at his friend, Casey was pointing up into the air.

Mikey followed her finger and saw three small brown-and-gray birds fluttering above them. Unlike normal birds, they swooped down and circled around Mikey like something was wrong with them. Mikey gasped along with his friends when more appeared. Ten, then twenty, then maybe forty.

"OMG, like, get away from our friend, don't eat him!" Renet shouted, which was rather admirable in Mikey's eyes, but the birds didn't seem affected.

Mikey stood frozen still. Normally his instincts would have had him jumping away, but he had a hunch they weren't trying to hurt him.

"I'm okay," he said.

"The plot thickens!" yelled Casey over the chirping. "Just when we thought we were done!"

The voice entered Mikey's mind again. _**Follow my wrens. They will lead you to me.**_

"She's saying I have to follow them!" Mikey said, just as the mini tornado of wrens broke off from around him and flew down the path. He broke into a run, and his friends followed.

"Who's ' _she_ '?" Casey cried.

"Is it the yokai?" Renet shouted.

"I think so!" Mikey yelled as he tried to keep up with the wrens. They were fast, but just as they disappeared from sight ahead of them, they swooped back around until they were flying in front of the teenagers again. It was as if they were so impatient they didn't want to slow down.

Mikey could hear Casey and Renet's footsteps behind him as he ran after the wrens, following the path they were on. If there had been anyone else nearby, this would have been sort of a weird sight: three teenagers running after a bunch of birds doing synchronized loop-de-loops.

"Where are we going?" Renet yelled over the sound of the wrens chirping.

"I don't know!" Mikey heard Casey shout back.

They followed the path's twists and turns. Mikey barely had time to appreciate the garden around them. There was a pond with a swan, a lineup of weeping willows, and a bridge that went over a stream. The wrens even had them go through a iron garden arbor with roses climbing on one side at one point (Mikey heard Renet gasp out, "OMG, aesthetic!" as they passed under it).

Finally, as they ran down the brick path in an area that had trees on both sides, the wrens darted away, disappearing into the trees.

Mikey, Renet, and Casey came to a stop. Casey was panting so hard he fell over. Renet pulled out a water bottle from her backpack and handed it to him. He took it, giving her a grateful fist-bump as payment.

Mikey had barely broken a sweat — or if he had, he was too engrossed in the adventure. He spun around, looking at the trees in which the wrens had disappeared.

"What now?" Renet whispered, almost as if she were afraid of something jumping out of the trees.

"I don't know," Mikey admitted.

Renet glanced at him, then frowned and reached over to touch his hair. When she pulled back, Mikey saw that she had a woodchip in her fingers, just like yesterday.

"You got one of these stuck in your hair again. Woodchips must really like yo— _oh holy moly bean burritos!_ " Renet squeaked, eyes going wide.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Mikey cried.

Renet blinked rapidly, her mouth opening and closing before she met Mikey's eyes. "I _heard_ it! The voice, I heard it!"

"What?"

"I heard it, for real! In my head," Renet said, and then they both looked down at the woodchip in her hand.

 _Wait a second. Is it… the woodchip?_ Mikey thought frantically. _BRAIN CELLS, ACTIVATE! Have the wrens been dropping woodchips in my hair because they're like little phones to hear the yokai? Is that why I've been hearing her voice?_

Mikey gingerly placed his hand on top of the woodchip sitting in Renet's hand. When the yokai's voice entered his mind, he saw from Renet's expression that it had for her, too.

_**You are close by, Michelangelo. I am just behind these trees.** _

Mikey's jaw dropped as a curtain of leaves to his left parted, held back by the wrens who were using their beaks. Off the path, behind the leaves, was a gentle slope of a ravine. The sunshine revealed a grassy opening in the garden that held at its center a beautiful brown tree with no leaves at all.

Casey was the first one to find his voice.

"I guess I'm going to be a little late to work," he said from the ground.

"No kidding," Renet laughed, a little nervously. "Oh gosh, this is scary. Is no one else a little scared?"

"Pfft. Of some birds and a tree?" Casey scoffed, getting up. "Just stay behind me, kids."

Casey stepped through first, and Mikey gently pulled Renet along behind him as he followed, their hands clasping over the woodchip together. Mikey carefully made his way down the ravine, and saw that the wrens flew back to the tree with no leaves in the center. Its bark was peeling off. Mikey recognized the bark as the same kind he'd been finding in his hair.

"That tree," Mikey said. "Nothing's growing on it. Do you guys think it's dead?"

"I don't know," Casey murmured as they neared it together. "It's springtime, so this is definitely weird."

A moment later, weird became something else. The bark of the tree lifted up, and something organic stepped out of its surface. Casey jumped back with a high-pitched squeak.

"Whoa," Mikey said.

Out of the tree stepped a _wooden person_ , with arms and legs, completely made out of wood and featureless. Mikey, Casey, and Renet all stood in shocked silence as the thing continued to form.

The longer Mikey stared, the more the figure seemed to change. The excess bark seemed to melt away, and a woman appeared, features defining and becoming sharper with each second. Her skin became smoother, a rich dark brown like fresh soil, the same color as the tree she'd stepped out of. Dull green moss appeared as her hair, textured and braided in an intricate pattern. She wore a dress made of wood, but somehow it seemed to defy the laws of its own texture, as it swished against and hugged her figure like cloth. Moss decorated her skirt near the bottom as if her feet were still part of the earth. Her hands sharpened, the smooth bumps of knuckles and long delicate fingers coming forth like butterflies breaking out of their cocoons. Her face became clear, too - a small bump for her nose, and cracks to form her lips. When she opened her eyes, her irises were seeds. They met Mikey's own and he felt small under her gaze.

Mikey could hear the small gasps of wonder from his friends.

The woman before them could have passed for an avant-garde mannequin made of tree bark and moss if not for the fact that the very essence of life flowed out of her.

"Michelangelo," the tree-yokai spoke. "You _found_ me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought!


	3. photosynthesis hats on saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, here we are! It took me SO long to write it so that it wouldn't feel like an info dump to me. Thank you for all the kind words and being so patient with me! I hope you enjoy!

"Michelangelo. You _found_ me."

No longer was the voice from yesterday disembodied. The beautiful tree-yokai stood before them in the sunlight, a perfect picture of effortless grace and confidence against the breeze. Mikey could hardly believe it. Pulling his eyes away from the supernatural sight before him, he looked over to see his friends staring at the yokai with slack-jawed expressions to go along with his own mind, which was _blown_.

They'd _found_ the yokai.

This was _amazing!_ Mr. Murakami had led them right to it with his _first guess!_ Who would have guessed it? Well, Mr. Murakami, obviously, but this was _so_ -

Oh. Right. This was so, definitely, _officially_ breaking Leo's rules, wasn't it?

_He's going to be SO mad. He might even throw me into Hamato Family Prison, aka ground me forever until I'm old and gray._ Mikey didn't even want to imagine the conversation they'd be having at dinnertime today. His heart was weighed down by the sudden guilt. _Oh, man. I built my bridge and that means that later I'm going to have to cross it. Wait, that's not how the saying goes._

A few wrens flew down and landed on the tree-yokai's delicate wooden shoulders, like it was as natural as landing on a branch. Her human form looked like a regular woman in her thirties, but in actuality she was a living homage to flora. Her dark brown skin was sleek and smooth, and yet, to Mikey's awe, it _still_ looked like part of a tree. Her shoulders had dark rings that framed them, like the pattern found on tree trunks. And where moss grew on her head like beautiful locks of hair, smaller spirals from her skin's tree pattern crowned her hairline, making it look like she wore a woven headband.

She had a whole army of wrens resting in the branches of the tree behind her, the same tree that she'd come from. Mikey wasn't sure how the yokai had literally just morphed out of a tree (something about the _conservation of mass_ flashed in his head with Donnie's personal stamp), but it'd been a seriously cool entrance, so who cared? The rules of science and logic didn't seem to apply to yokai, anyway.

"I'm surprised you were able to find me so quickly," The tree-yokai said, her soft voice the next thing Mikey put his hyper-focus on. "Pleasantly surprised, to be exact." Her sincere eyes aligned with his. "Thank you. Truly."

Mikey couldn't find his voice still, too awed by her perfect beauty, grace, and unblinking gaze. He just nodded, wondering if she had eyelids.

"My wrens were adept at finding you and dropping a small piece of my bark onto your person, but I can only project my mental voice through my bark for a short period of time," the tree-yokai explained, raising her hand to touch the side of her head with four twig-like fingers as if to demonstrate. "I'm sure it must have been confusing to hear my voice. Disorienting, to be exact. But you still managed to come all this way. I am ever so grateful that you found me, Michelangelo."

_Oh, wow. She's like the politest yokai I've ever met,_ Mikey thought. Sure, the bar wasn't too high, but this yokai was really formal! And no wonder he had kept finding little woodchips in his hair yesterday! Now that he knew how the whole _'Hello Michelangelo, I am in your head'_ thing worked, he could totally appreciate it. It was a superpower, just like Klunk's ability to teleport.

Wait, how long had he been standing there with his mouth hanging open?

"Uh, it was no problem," Mikey stammered out. "It's super nice to meet you in real life. I go by Mikey. These are my friends, Casey and Renet."

" _Hey_ ," Casey greeted up at her dreamily.

Renet seemed unable to find her voice, but slowly raised her free hand to give a small wave. Her other hand still held Mikey's, Mother Tree's bark pressed in between their palms.

The tree-yokai bowed her head to them. "I am called Mother Tree."

" _Mother_ Tree?" Casey repeated.

"Cool name," Mikey commented.

"I was dubbed as such because I am barren," Mother Tree said, pointing back at the leafless tree she'd stepped out of. "Irony, I suppose. But the name has grown on me." She turned back to face them, a soft smile blooming on her face. "I like introductions. I don't get the chance to do them very often."

Mikey began to wonder why, but then looked around. _Right_. It wasn't like Eastman's yokai population was extensive.

"Well, it's _really_ nice to meet you, Mother Tree," Casey said, stepping forward. Then he frowned. "Can I call you MT instead? I don't really think I can call you the 'Mother' bit."

" _Dude_ , don't be _rude_."

"What?" Casey asked in defense, looking over at Mikey. Lowering his voice, he said, "I'm not calling her _'Mother'_. She's a _babe."_

That stuff Mikey had thought about Casey being all parental and mature back at the restaurant? Yeah, he was taking it back.

"She's a tree," Renet whispered to Casey, finally finding her voice.

"I mean, _yeah_ , but just _look_ at her."

"Guys, _shhh_ ," Mikey whispered, effectively ending their side conversation.

They hadn't been loud enough for Mother Tree to hear them, but she was smiling at their hushed banter regardless.

"You can call me MT, Casey," Mother Tree said. "I've never had a nickname before. Thank you."

Casey's ears turned a shade of pink.

Mother Tree raised a hand to her chest, her palm touching where her heart would have been if she were a real human. Even though her eyes were literally just seeds, the line texture of the seeds swirled, as if she were about to cry. "I believe this is a good thing, if there are three of you. I need all the help I can get."

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" Mikey asked immediately.

"Yeah. And… how do you know Mikey?" Casey remembered to add in for him, because he was awesome.

"I am, and there's also an explanation for that," Mother Tree said. "Normally I have a human friend who helps me, but he has vanished recently, and my wrens cannot find him. It's put me in an urgency, and so the wrens told me of you, Mikey."

"Me?" Mikey squeaked incredulously.

"There's talk of you among the birds. Talk of a kindred human boy with sunlight hair who has helped a bird spirit before. That was you, wasn't it?"

Mikey blushed at the nice compliment, totally flattered at being called ' _kindred_ '. It sounded super fancy. But was she talking about last Halloween? He'd helped out Mr. Murakami's bird friend after it had become a yokai, sure, but he'd had no idea that the birds gossiped about that. Or that birds had such a reliable network of information.

"Sure," he said modestly, "Casey was there, too."

Casey was unable to control his smile when Mother Tree beamed at him.

"That's good to hear! My wrens found out your name. They have good hearing skills, and make the best informants, believe it or not. So that's how I was able to reach out to you. There was a chance you'd ignore me, but I thought you — I _hoped_ you might be willing to do me a favor," Mother Tree said, intertwining her fingers in a hand clasp.

Slightly behind Mikey, Renet's grip on his hand tightened.

Mikey caught her eye. Renet was always a little shy around new people, but this time, her eyes held a certain something else other than timidness as they darted between him and Mother Tree. He couldn't fathom why — other than the yokai's intimidating beauty, Mikey's gut was telling him that they were safe.

"What's the favor?" Mikey asked.

Mother Tree looked around, as if making sure they had no eavesdroppers. The wrens on her shoulders and about a handful from the tree behind her took off at the same time just as a new batch of wrens flew in from the sky, taking their place.

"I need your help to make an escape," Mother Tree said in a low voice, over the flapping of wings around them. "Escape from this city, to be exact."

Mikey let that marinate in his head for a second. "Oh. You want to leave Eastman?"

"Oh, no, not _me_. I am rooted here, see?" she pointed back to her leafless tree. "Even in this human form, I cannot walk further than a few feet from where my central root is. Nine or ten feet, to be exact. It takes a lot of energy make this form, and I'm not very strong in the first place."

"I _like_ your human form," Casey said with a goofy grin.

Mikey - and even Renet - giggled at how lovestruck their friend sounded.

"I suppose I find it easier to… how should I put it? Um… oh, yes. _Connect_ with other humans, when I appear like this. I've been doing it for years," Mother Tree said proudly. "Ever since I learned how, to be exact."

_Connecting, huh? I guess plants can want friends, too,_ Mikey thought.

"So… you need our help escaping this city, but _you_ aren't the one who needs to escape," Casey said. He scratched his head in confusion.

"Yes, that's exactly right," Mother Tree said. She leaned forward meaningfully, her voice hushed but clear. "I need you to help my _children_ escape this city."

"Children?" Mikey'd thought Mother Tree didn't have any children. That's what barren meant, right?

_Maybe I gotta read more stuff than just comic books._ Mikey winced. _Oh great, now Donnie's become the disembodied voice in my head._

As if sensing everyone's befuddlement, Mother Tree turned and parted some bushes at the base of her tree form, revealing three green flower buds, swaddled in deep green leaves and vines.

" _Adopted_ children."

Mikey, Casey, and Renet gasped at the sight before them.

Not only were the flower buds the size of _fully-grown pumpkins_ (and would probably win every "giant flower" contest if those existed anywhere), but at their base, nearly hidden, they had _a pair of eyes_.

Thick green eyelashes met the thin crescent of their eye lines, sealed shut in a deep sleep.

So that meant they were looking at _yokai_ , not regular flower buds!

Mother Tree gently scooped up all three flower bud yokai. Their small leafy vines curled around her wooden arm instinctively, like a baby grabbing onto a finger.

_Oh, wow, those ARE babies!_ Mikey felt his heart melt as the smallest one shivered in its sleep, burrowing into its leafy blanket and Mother Tree's elbow.

Casey and Renet looked as surprised as he was. Meeting four yokai in one day in _their_ city had to be some kind of record. Renet looked ready to explode from the cuteness, her eyes big and wide and her bottom lip trembling.

"These are the new arrivals," Mother Tree said fondly. "They aren't ready to bloom yet, but they will by tomorrow's sunset."

"Oh my gosh, they're _so_ adorable!" Renet cried with sparkling eyes, breaking out of her shyness. She let go of Mikey's hand and rushed forward to see them better.

Mother Tree smiled. "They are, aren't they? We have new arrivals every spring. Right now their eyes are shut. When they bloom completely, their eyes will be fully open and they will take root into the earth wherever they are, like I am. _But_ ," Mother Tree paused before continuing, "When they bloom, it must be outside of this city. They absolutely cannot live here. It's too dangerous."

Her sudden stricken tone shook Mikey out of admiring the baby yokai, bring his attention back to Mother Tree.

"Really?" Mikey asked. "Why?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with Eastman?" Casey added.

A couple wrens swooped down from over the trees to land on Mother Tree's free arm, and any extra space on her shoulders and head. Some landed in her tree. The tiny birds seemed to be restless, in tune with the worry crease in Mother Tree's forehead.

"Calm down," Mother Tree said quietly and gently to her wrens. "It's alright."

Mikey had no idea why the wrens needed to be calmed, but he shared his confusion by exchanging looks with Casey and Renet, who looked like they didn't have a clue, either.

"Sorry," Mother Tree said, her attention back on them. "My wrens have been scouting, and… well, never mind. I shouldn't waste time. Where was I?"

Mikey wondered what that was all about.

"Dangerous," Renet reminded her, sounding a little freaked out. "Why is it dangerous for your children to live in Eastman?"

"The Miyamoto clan," Mother Tree answered solemnly, all of her previous gentleness replaced with a hardness. Even with tiny cute birds on her head, their little legs buried in the green moss, she commanded seriousness. Mikey felt chills at the name.

"The… the _who_ clan?" he asked.

"Miyamoto and his clan are like you and your friends, Mikey, in that they can see spirits. He has made a rather distasteful reputation for himself, however," the tree-yokai said with a frown. "Many in his clan are _hunters_ , who search for spirits in this city to capture and destroy for him."

Wait, what?

Mikey took in her words, tossing them around in his head. He'd known about Leatherhead being a yokai hunter, but there was a whole _clan_? Of people like that, who could see yokai?

And they _destroyed_ them?

Besides him, Casey let out a puff of air in shock and Renet breathed out a " _whoa_ ". Mikey agreed wholeheartedly. This was definitely 'whoa' territory.

"His hunters have spared my life — I am valuable for my ability to speak to the wrens for scouting purposes. But otherwise I would not have survived. Eastman is too dangerous for spirits. From what the wrens tell me, Miyamoto and his clan hunt only in this city — exclusively in this city, to be exact. I don't know why. I've lived here for years, but when he rose to power… well, everything changed," Mother Tree told them. She looked down at the sleeping baby yokai in her arms. "Every spring brings new arrivals in this garden, and so I take the responsibility of making sure they are hidden from Miyamoto until my usual contact can take deliver them out of Eastman for their blooming. And this spring he's not available."

As if out of fear of her own words, Mother Tree's fingers of the hand that wasn't holding the babies deformed into branch nubs. She struggled to bring her fingers back, stilling for a moment before they returned, all five appendages.

Casey looked worried. "Whoa. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It takes quite a bit of focus to maintain this form," she said. "And I'm a little rustled."

The sky above them was darkening, gray clouds rolling in and blocking out the sunny spring day that they'd all been having. A breeze hit Mikey's arms and he felt goosebumps. Was it going to storm?

But more than that, he stared at Mother Tree in awe and something heavy weighed in his heart. She was just a mom. Trying to make sure her kids were safe.

"I just need someone to take these little spirits out of this city, where Miyamoto doesn't go," Mother Tree said quietly. She opened her mouth, but then closed it, as if she were too afraid to ask the question. Too afraid to hear a _no_. Her eyes fell on the sleeping yokai in her arms instead as they all stood there.

It was a lot of information to process. Yokai! Hunters! A mysterious clan! Mikey didn't understand why this Miyamoto clan would hurt innocent yokai who hadn't done anything wrong, but he was also curious. Every story had another side. What if this clan had a valid reason for their actions, as cruel as they seemed?

_We just keep getting more and more questions,_ Mikey thought. _But should I help her? That's the real question._

He glanced over at his friends. Renet's eyebrows were bunched together, thinking deeply. Casey was looking at him. When their eyes met, Casey shrugged, as if it was Mikey's call to make.

A batch of wrens flew down from over the tree tops. The ones that landed on Mother Tree's shoulder chirped at her rapidly.

Mother Tree stiffened at whatever it was that the wrens had just said to her. It must have been enough to give her courage, because she turned back to Mikey, eyes imploring as she spoke the question into the air.

"Please, Mikey. I don't know any other humans who could help me. Will you do it?"

"Of course."

Mikey heard himself speak the words before he realized he was talking, but it wasn't even a question, after all. Here was someone asking for his help. To save _babies_. It was a no-brainer. Out of the corner of his eye, Casey grinned, obviously pleased with his answer, but Renet looked at Mikey in surprise.

Mother Tree let out a relieved noise. "Thank you. _Thank you, thank you, thank you._ "

"Um, excuse us, Mother Tree," Renet said quickly, pulling Mikey and Casey aside.

"What's up, pigtails?" Casey asked in a hush.

"Um, _hello?_ What if this is a trap?" she whispered.

"She's so pretty and nice, though," Casey complained quietly. "She _can't_ be evil and plotting to eat us."

It was a good point. Not Casey's thing, but Renet's. But when Mikey looked at Mother Tree, his determination solidified. He couldn't explain how, but he just _knew_ there wasn't any dishonesty behind those seed eyes. He was also pretty sure Mother Tree didn't have eyelids, as she hadn't blinked once during their conversation, but he tucked that piece of useless information in the back of his mind. The point was, it couldn't be a trap.

Mikey didn't know how to say all that (plus the eyelid thing was weird), so he just said, "I don't think it is?"

"How can you be so… _sure?_ " Renet asked him.

"Intuition?" Mikey suggested with a shrug. "But if you feel weird about it, then no pressure, Renet. We're not going to force you. I might need to force Casey, though." He lowered his voice to a dramatic stage whisper. " _We need his car._ "

"Ha, ha," Casey said, rolling his eyes like he wasn't already on board with the whole thing. "But yeah, I can give you a ride home, Pigtails."

"No!" Renet exclaimed, sounding like he'd just offered to cut one of her pigtails off. Mikey and Casey looked at her. Renet flushed in embarrassment at her outburst. "I mean, no thank you. I don't want to go home. Yet."

"Okay… that's fine," Casey reassured her. "Not until you're ready, Pigtails."

Mikey wanted to add something equally as comforting, but he had a feeling there was something more that was bugging Renet, if her rapid blinking and struggling-to-smile eyes were any indication.

Renet took a deep breath. "Don't get me wrong, I do totally want to help her! I just, like, wanted to bring up the alternative, because... well. It's really not important, it's all in my head. But if you guys trust her, I will, too."

That ended the conversation, and they all shared a smile. Casey clapped, breaking up the circle.

"Okay, wait. Let me just get this all straight," Casey said, bringing both hands up and looking at Mother Tree. "So we give these three flower bud guys a lift out of Eastman. Anywhere out of Eastman?"

Mother Tree nodded. "Before they bloom."

"Before they bloom," Casey repeated. He scratched his head. "Which is… when, again?"

"Tomorrow's sunset."

"Tomorrow," Casey nodded, pulling out his phone to check directions. "Sunset. Wait. It's just an eleven-minute drive to get to the closest city border from here. We have plenty of time. And I think I can even make it back to the restaurant after we're done."

"Oh, okay," Renet said with a relieved sigh. "Not too tall an order."

"Yeah, we can do this," Casey agreed. His phone screen blacked out and he groaned. "Oh crap. My phone's dead."

"We can use mine," Mikey said. He reached in his pocket to give him his phone, but his fingers met nothing. " _Whiiich_ I left in your car, Casey."

"Smooth," Casey said.

"Smoother than letting my phone battery die," Mikey chirped right back at him.

"Is it, though?"

Renet looked up from tightening her backpack straps on her arms. "The car is where we're headed back to anyway." She smiled. "Adventure awaits, I guess!"

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Mikey asked with a cheerful grin.

This was going to be really easy. A piece of cake.

And _then_ Mikey would tell Leo about it. His oldest brother wouldn't be mad about Mikey helping a mom and her kids, right?

The sun had disappeared behind the clouds a while ago, but the ravine got even darker. Maybe a storm really _was_ coming in. At the same time, new wrens flew in from the trees like bullets.

Something was wrong, though. Instead of one or two landing on Mother Tree's shoulders and chirping in a panic, they _all_ were chirping in a panic, flying in circles around all of them.

Mikey, Casey, and Renet jolted as the wrens shot by them, low to the ground. Mikey yelped as a few came too close to his face. Casey screamed as one clumsily bumped into the back of his head.

"Careful, careful!" Mother Tree exclaimed at her wrens.

"What's going on?" Renet shouted worriedly over the chirping.

"I'm sorry, they don't act well in a crisis!" Mother Tree told them. To her wrens, she said, "We've dealt with them before, so _calm down_. A-team, distract them."

A group of wrens — presumably Mother Tree's A-team — took off at the yokai's command.

"Whoa!" Casey yelped as more small birds brushed over his head.

It was a little chaotic, to say the least. Mikey stumbled back as a wren zoomed by his ear. Renet clamped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes.

"Adventure is attacking!" she declared over all the noise, and Mikey cracked up despite the crazy wrens around them.

" _C_ _areful!_ Calm down, it's alright, I'm here," Mother Tree called, soothing her wrens. They quieted down some. Mother Tree looked at the kids. "Sorry, they're great informants, but quite flighty."

"Literally," Casey muttered.

"They say that two hunters are on their way. Alopex and Spike, to be exact."

Mikey blinked up at her. "The hunters… as in…?"

Mother Tree hurriedly plucking the baby yokai resting in her elbow to set on Mikey's head. "They work for Miyamoto. Their timing couldn't be worse, so this might be goodbye for us."

Immediately, the leaves and vines of the little baby yokai hooked around Mikey's head gently, tickling his ears a little. It felt like a funny-shaped hat.

"I thought we had more time. I'm sorry about this," Mother Tree told him as she moved on to his friends.

Mikey didn't get what she was apologizing for. Thunder rumbled from somewhere far.

"Um, what?" Renet asked as Mother Tree gave her and then Casey the same treatment with the other two baby yokai. "What are you — I mean, why are you putting them on our heads?"

"I'm enchanting them with what little power I still have," Mother Tree explained, as if that made sense. "It's the only way to ensure their safety, so I'm sorry to put you at risk."

"Risk?" Mikey asked, tilting his head and forgetting that the yokai could roll off. The yokai didn't, however. It didn't move at all — perfectly balanced upright on his head like some kind of weird hat.

Wait, was this permanent?

_Leo's going to be another level of mad if I come home with a three-dimensional tattoo of a plant on my head — oh but wait, he wouldn't be able to see this, would he?_ Mikey relaxed, but only slightly. He didn't _want_ a three-dimensional tattoo of a plant on his head.

The wind picked up, no longer a nice breeze.

"What risk?" Renet asked.

The yokai had wrapped around her head like a helmet, standing perfectly upright as well. Its vines curled beneath her chin. The same was for Casey. The older teenager tried to gently pull his own bud-yokai off his head. It didn't budge, the leaves and vines wrapping around his ears firmly to keep the bud-yokai in place.

"Why won't they come off?" he exclaimed.

"They're sleeping, but I cast a small enchantment so that they won't leave your heads until they're out of Eastman," Mother Tree told them over another crack of thunder. "They'll hop off once they sense they are past the spirit wall that surrounds this city. So as long as you make sure they're out of Eastman, you three will be fine."

_Hey, she's talking about the yokai barrier,_ Mikey realized with a small draw of his breath. _So wait, what's going to happen if we don't make it? What's the risk she's talking about?_

The trees overhanging the ravine behind them shook hard in the wind.

"MOTHER TREE!" snapped a rough feminine voice so loud and unfriendly that Mikey and his friends jumped. It came from somewhere in the woods. "EITHER CALL YOUR BIRDS OFF, OR I'LL TAKE THEIR HEADS MYSELF."

"It might be a good idea to run," Mother Tree told them calmly. "The hunters are here. Go that way."

Mikey, Casey, and Renet didn't need to be told twice. They flew across the ravine, where it was slightly steeper and rockier. Renet made it up first, followed by Casey. Then they both turned to help Mikey.

His friends' hands gripped his wrists to pull him up just as someone tore through the other side of the ravine, the wrens and all. The three teenagers hid behind the thicket of trees to catch their breath while this new person — this hunter — made herself known.

"Mother Tree, your wrens are a MENACE."

"Greetings, Alopex," Mother Tree said innocently. "It's always a surprise with you. Where is your companion?"

Though a V-shaped branch of the tree he was hiding behind, Mikey could get a good view. Alopex was a short adult woman with spiky hair and slightly hooded amber eyes. She had a loose t-shirt on, her black hair full of red and brown highlights and tied in a sharp ponytail. Around her waist she wore a utility belt of some kind. She huffed, her eyes falling to the ground. They narrowed, and Mikey ducked behind the tree completely as Alopex's eyes darted up in the direction that he, Casey, and Renet were hiding in.

"Footprints," he heard her say, and he gulped. The grass had flattened underneath their shoes in the ravine.

_She's going to find us._ They hadn't done anything wrong, but this was one game of hide-and-seek that Mikey didn't want to lose. He looked over his shoulder. There wasn't a path — everything was just branches and bushes that walled up their way out.

"Why are you here?" Mikey heard Mother Tree ask in an attempt to distract her.

Alopex pulled her eyes away from the footprints in the grass. "It's not anything that concerns you."

"I think it does," Mother Tree said, sounding hurt. "There used to be a lot more spirits in this garden. Now there's just me. Can't we just talk about this? Humans have the wonderful ability to communicate."

" _Communicate_ your complaint all you want with the boss," Alopex snapped. "If you make your birds behave, he might even listen."

Casey pointed down the path, and mimed walking with two fingers. Renet shook her head, pointing to the entanglement of branches and bushes that stood in the way of them moving away from the scene.

_We can't,_ she mouthed. _Noisy_.

She had a good point — there would be no lack of twigs snapping if they tried to slip through the bushes now.

Mother Tree and Alopex continued to talk.

"Who was here with you just now?" Alopex demanded, making Mikey's heart jump.

"Just some human kids passing through," Mother Tree answered. "Exploring the garden."

Alopex was quiet at that. _Everyone_ was quiet for a moment. Mikey felt his heart beating in his ears. Alopex's eyes moved to where the footprints led, up to where they were hiding.

When she moved, it was without warning and with the highest level of agility Mikey had ever seen in a person. If they were playing dodgeball, Alopex would no doubt be the undefeated champion — and he and Jennika would be total history.

She pushed past the trees and landed in their hiding spot just as Mikey, Casey, and Renet all screamed in unison together. There was something comical about it all, especially with Alopex's wide eyes at her own discovery.

"Supernaturals!" she hissed, and in a flash whipped out a pair of curved blades with handles from her utility belt. "I knew something felt off today."

_Supernaturals?_ Them? Then Mikey remembered they had the bud-yokai sitting on their heads.

Thunder cracked overhead. The blades in Alopex's hands looked as friendly as her — which was not at all. Mikey felt someone grab his hand to pull him through the bushes as Alopex made a grab for him and missed, thanks to a flurry of wrens that attacked her in the face.

"Run!" Mikey could hear Mother Tree shout from the distance.

They tore through the trees, reaching the main garden path on the other side.

"Which way?" Casey yelled.

Renet pulled out her phone as they ran, checking for the garden's map. "We have to go the other way to get to the parking lot," she cried.

"I don't want to go back to the crazy lady with knives in her hands!" Casey shouted, and Mikey had to agree.

Renet tried stuffing her phone back into her pocket, but it tumbled out of her hands and hit the grass. They didn't stop — actually, they sped up as they heard Alopex somewhere behind them, shouting curses. Renet let out a wail.

"Someone remind me to find my phone again when I'm not running for my life!"

It started to rain, the clouds dark and stormy. The wrens couldn't help them, and the few that were flying above them had to retreat, unable to go on further as the drizzle turning into a downpour.

"We need a way out of here!" Mikey shouted as he ran. "Any ideas?"

"Call 911?" Casey yelled out.

"I think we ran out of phones!"

Renet snapped her fingers. "I have candy!"

"I mean, I'm hungry too, but no thanks!"

"No, I mean - argghmp!" Whatever Renet had been going to say was muffled, as the three of them were all tackled by someone much bigger than them.

Mikey felt his arms being squeezed to his sides as he, Renet, and Casey were all squished in a giant bear hug by a guy who looked like he could be a WWE Champion. He wore a large deep green hoodie and black jeans, and had tattoos on his caramel brown bald head. Rain poured on them steadily, but his grip was iron.

"Uh, hi?" Mikey squeaked.

The guy spoke, but not to them. "Got them, Alopex."

_Oh, shoot._ Mikey turned his head to see Alopex had caught up to them, and her blades were tucked away. Maybe that was a sign she was friendly. Maybe this was all just a big misunderstanding, and these hunters that Mother Tree was so afraid of weren't really so bad.

"Great work, Spike. Let's send them down to the rest."

Or… maybe not? Mikey didn't want to assume the worst in them yet, but his heart was pounding and his gut was definitely telling him that they were in trouble.

"Let us go!" Renet cried out, struggling.

Spike didn't release them. He didn't even loosen his grip.

Casey kicked him, which didn't really do anything, but Mikey was sure it felt a little liberating. "So you're _kidnappers_ on top of hunters?"

"Kidnappers?" Alopex laughed as lightning flashed. "That would be the case if you three were actually kids. Supernaturals who can make themselves look human are the worst kind of supernaturals."

Huh? Did this lady not think they were human? Could she not see that they were just regular people with yokai on top of their heads?

"We're not supernaturals," Mikey protested. "We're not that or spirits or yokai or whatever you want to call us!"

"Yeah!" Renet complained. "We're real kids!"

Spike's grip on them softened slightly. "Really?"

" _Really!_ " They all shouted.

"Oh, please, Spike. Don't get caught up in their lies," Alopex said, looking at them. "You supernaturals can't fool me by telling me that those _bulbous cones_ on your head are just some new-age hats for _photosynthesis_ or something."

Photosynthesis hats sounded like something that belonged on a runway model, not them. It was kind of funny, despite being so frustrating that they weren't being listened to.

"You're not listening. We're not who you think we are, so _get your hands off of us_ ," Casey growled as the storm worsened. His bangs were plastered over his eyes. "Seriously, you're messing with the wrong guy."

Alopex gave him a flat stare. "I don't like the supernaturals who can talk, either."

She pulled something out of her belt that looked like a can of spray paint and started to spray the ground that they were on. It was raining, but the red paint didn't wash away. Mikey raised an eyebrow curiously as Alopex made a circle and started to draw strange symbols inside of it. Spike held them firmly, but Renet nudged Mikey.

"Psst," she whispered as Casey started to use bad language to curse Alopex out.

Mikey looked at her, and saw that her backpack had been pulled over between them as they were squished. The sparkly blue unicorn on it was looking pretty deformed. Poor Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt.

But then Mikey saw that Renet had managed to unzip it halfway by grabbing the zip between her teeth.

"Help me get the candy out of here," she whispered. "You can probably reach it."

"Candy?" Mikey asked dubiously. Both his hands were pinned down, but he could move his elbow a little to crane his arm into Renet's backpack. "Weird time for cravings, but okay."

"Not for me," Renet said. "For _Klunk_."

Mikey blinked, the genius of Renet's plan hitting him. He reached into the backpack, felt around, and pulled out a bunch of assorted Twizzlers. Red, green, and even brown were part of the licorice bundle that he held in his hand.

"He'll smell them, just give it a se—" Before Renet could finish her sentence, a furry and feathery ball of cuteness flashed into existence above them, snatching the treats out of Mikey's hand.

"Klunk!" the kids all cheered.

Mikey hadn't seen Klunk that much in a few weeks — Renet had been adamant to follow Leo's rules — but the cat-yokai with owlish features was back, and Mikey didn't realize how much he'd missed the little guy.

"WHAT?" Alopex shouted.

Klunk raised his head from his Twizzlers and blinked owlishly at the kids and Spike, watching them as if this were all just a movie. Mikey waited. They all waited. But Klunk yawned, and went back to his licorice prize anticlimactically.

Renet deflated.

"I don't know what I expected him to do, actually," she said.

"Wow, so he's not even going to help us?" Casey groaned. "Great."

Klunk lazily licked his butt.

Mikey tried not to giggle. Was it bad that he kept on finding things funny despite being in a troublesome situation? "It was a good try, though, Renet."

No one saw Alopex coming, not even Klunk. Out of nowhere, she cast a glowing net at the yokai just as lightning flashed and thunder boomed violently, making everyone flinch. Klunk yowled as he was trapped, unable to escape. The net tightened, and the winged cat-yokai screeched painfully, to Mikey's horror. He didn't seem to be able to teleport out of it.

"NO!" Renet yelled.

"Klunk!" Mikey cried.

"Hands off the cat!" Casey shouted.

Alopex looked at Klunk in intrigue. "The boss'll like this one."

Spike grunted. He didn't seem like he talked much.

Alopex stood back, gesturing at the circle with strange symbols that she'd made on the ground. It reminded Mikey of the first time he'd seen a yokai, when Bradford, Xever, and Fong had drawn a summoning circle for one.

"Toss 'em."

Wait, this wasn't a summoning circle at all. Spike didn't waste time stepping forward and dropping Mikey, Casey, and Renet over the circle. It clicked in Mikey's brain right as they fell at the circle on the ground, and then, like magic, _through_ the circle in the ground.

This wasn't a circle to summon anything — it was one to banish them.

Mikey heard his friends' panicked hollers along with his own. Spike, Alopex, Klunk, and the stormy sky faded to black above them as they hurtled to their pitch black doom, their bud-yokai still attached to their heads.

_So much for this being a piece of cake._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Different characters will use different terminology ('yokai' vs. 'spirit' vs. 'supernatural') because there's no strict rule plus people grew up in different environments, but in effect, they're all talking about the same thing.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought :)


	4. angry bunny, probably saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Thanks so much for the kind comments!
> 
> Double update this weekend, though! Chapter 5 is coming soon, so stay tuned :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Mikey slowly awoke from a deep slumber.

It was dark in his room, which meant the sun wasn't up yet. Mikey couldn't even hear the sound of Leo (a.k.a. the _earliest_ of birds) running the shower: solid proof that it was nowhere near the point at which he needed to get up. Prepared to be pulled back into the land of Z's, Mikey tried to yank his covers to his chin, but his hand met nothing but air. He screwed his face in discomfort. He must have kicked it off the bed at some point.

_Isssokay. Blankets are… overrated… anyway,_ Mikey thought, barely having the energy to think.

For some reason, he felt like he'd just come back from running a whole marathon! He would have fallen back asleep, but as he turned over, his bed refused to mold to his new position. It was like cement.

It _was_ cement. No wonder his back was hating him right now!

_Eeeuuughgghhghgh. I just wanna sleep!_

Mikey opened his eyes. Wait.

This room wasn't his bedroom.

This was a pitch black space with absolutely _no light_ coming in from anywhere!

Mikey's mind cleared and it all came back to him — he had been chucked into a _terrifying void of nothingness_ with his friends!

Ignoring the awesome band name potential that sentence held, Mikey bolted up and whirled around in a panic, his brain trying to make sense of all the input he had.

_Totally dark, totally dark! Mayday, Mayday!_ Mikey's brain shouted. _Totally dark room, totally no exit!_ He stumbled over his own feet, almost falling on his face. _Aaannd totally dizzy from standing up too fast!_

"H-hello?" he called, his arms stretched out in front of him in case he suddenly went smack into a wall. The empty blackness of this place made Mikey's heart race.

Something sounded from above him.

Oh. It was just his _photosynthesis_ hat, a.k.a. one of Mother Tree's three adopted children, a.k.a. the flower bud yokai sleeping on his head with its eyes closed. Mikey's bud-yokai snored like a little piggy once before quieting. Moving his hands up to the sides of his face, Mikey felt the vines and leaves that came down to wrap around his ears in curiosity. Mother Tree had just plopped the little guy on Mikey's blond mop of hair, but she really _had_ done some mystical enchant-y thing, because it was stuck to him like glue — as an experimental shake of his head displayed. The bud-yokai made the faintest wheezing noise after its snore as it slept on, totally oblivious to the world.

_Well, at least one of us is remaining calm. Thanks for acting as my emotional anchor during these troubling times, buddy-bud._

Seriously though, Alopex and Spike hadn't sent him off the face of the universe, had they? Mikey remembered Mother Tree's words about the Miyamoto clan, and his heart sped up again. _Many in his clan are hunters, who search for spirits in this city to capture and destroy..._

Mikey gulped. They'd definitely been captured, so Alopex and Spike could check that box off their to-do list. But he _really_ didn't want to be destroyed, no thank you.

"Renet?" he tried calling out. "Casey? Dudes, you in here somewhere?"

There was finally a distant groan from somewhere other than his head, somewhere off into the dark depth of the room, and Mikey froze, holding his breath.

"Five more minutes, please," came Renet's sleepy groan from a corner.

"Renet!" exclaimed Mikey, letting out a sigh of relief that took the weight out of his shoulders. His friends had landed nearby! He pumped his fist through the air. "YES!"

"Huh what?" Renet said, jolting at Mikey's voice. He could hear her sitting up from where she must have been lying down, just like him, and sniffing through a stuffed nose. " _Mikey?_ "

"Yeah, I'm here! It's me! Are you okay?"

Slowly, clarity entered Renet's voice. "Oh my gosh. OH MY GOSH. Where are we? Where are _you?_ Are you alright?"

"Yeah, no worries! Well, I mean, you know, _some_ worries, because those hunters got Klunk and then they threw us _right through the ground_ , and I guess we got knocked out or something because when I woke up I was really confused and the yokai on our heads are still a thing, let's not forget about that, and Mother Tree _barely_ had enough time to tell us everything she wanted to! Did you notice that? Because I did," Mikey rambled. It was therapeutic, at the very least. He rubbed at his face.

Mikey could hear Renet taking steadying breaths. "OMG. Just take deep breaths. _Deeeeeeep_ _breaths, Renet._ OMG, OMG, OMG. This is totally _not_ scary."

Mikey stopped talking, hearing Renet sniffle after catching her breath. He remembered his manners finally. "Are you okay, Renet? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Nope, I'm all good now," Renet said. Mikey heard her stand up slowly. "This is totally crazy."

"Sorry for going off on you," Mikey apologized sheepishly.

"Don't be sorry!" Renet said reassuringly. "Where are you?"

Mikey reached out and found her hand in the dark. He squeezed it to give her emotional support, and she squeezed back, stepping closer. He felt her arms wrap around him in a gentle, friendly hug.

"Oof," he said in surprise, because in-the-dark hugs were surprise hugs by nature.

"Sorry, I just need to know that you're, like, _real_ , and I'm not just imagining you," Renet said, and then, bravely, "Don't worry, Mikey. I'm not going to let anything hurt you."

He hugged her back nonetheless, a cheerful smile on his features even though it was totally dark and they had no idea where they were.

"Aw, thanks, Renet. I'm not going to let anything hurt _you_ , either," he said. "We're in this together. Speaking of which, Casey's _got_ to be here somewhere."

They started calling out for their friend.

"By the way," Renet asked after a few seconds, "Does the name Miyamoto sound _familiar_ to you?"

Mikey didn't have a chance to answer, because just then Renet let out a loud yelp. Mikey heard her trip and fall over something.

"OW!" came their friend's voice in the darkness.

"Casey!" exclaimed Mikey and Renet (who was somewhere on the cement floor). Mikey started to make his way over to his cluster of friends. He crouched down when he reached them. "We found you!"

"Casey! Sorry for tripping over you," Renet apologized. "Are you okay? Did I kick you?"

"Why's it so _dark?_ " Casey asked groggily, and there was a shuffle as Mikey heard him sit up and Renet scoot away. "What happened?"

"Alopex and Spike, the hunters, remember? They kinda got us in the garden?" Mikey reminded him. "And threw us in a portal thing to… wherever _here_ is? I don't know _where_ , it looks like a room with no windows or something. I wish I had a flashlight. Or my phone." He grimaced, even though no one could see his expression. "Or _any_ of our phones."

Casey groaned. "My _head_ …"

"Oh gosh, because of me?" Renet asked with a wince in her voice. "I can't stop messing up. I am _so_ sorry."

"You didn't hit me _that_ hard, Pigtails," Casey grumbled, but sighed. "My head's just heavy because of the Mother Tree's baby yokai."

Mikey felt his yokai snore softly again. He heard Casey pull himself together, still trying to wake up and make sense of what had happened.

"We're like, babysitters, huh?" Mikey murmured, probably inappropriately timed. "Except right now, the babies are sitting on _us_."

It managed to make Casey snort and Renet giggle, so it was worth it.

"I can't believe we talked to a _tree_ today," Renet said in a wonder-filled voice.

The contagious thrill of it all was catching up to them. Mikey grinned ear to ear in the dark. "I _knowww_. Did you see her skin? And her hair?"

"Yeah! She was _so_ _gorgeous!_ Not gonna lie, I was, like, scared at first, but she was so _nice!_ And did you see her dress?" Renet enthused in an excited mid-squeal.

"Yes, it was wooden and _swishy!_ "

"How does that, like, even work?"

"I have no idea!"

Being the goofballs they were that could making literally anything funny, Renet broke into laughter at the way he'd said it, and Mikey didn't take long to follow. 

Apparently, their sense of humor didn't translate too well past their fellow 13-year-olds.

"You guys are such kids," Casey snorted. He sounded casual, but there was a layer of cautionary fear laced in his voice. "C'mon, get up. Let's look for a way outta here."

Mikey felt the 15-year-old stand, and so did he and Renet. Mikey brushed himself off, and started to look around the dark space. His eyes were getting used to being in the dark, but he still couldn't make any shapes out. The trio moved outwards, and Mikey felt cold wood under his fingers when he found the wall. He pressed his ear to it. He could hear something beyond the room they were in. Music?

From where he stood, Casey let out an angry sigh, muttering aloud. "I'm probably really late for work. MT was so right about those bleeping hunters being dangerous. I can't believe they shot us through a bleeping portal to some nondescript creepy dark room somewhere!"

Mikey snickered. " _Bleeping?_ "

"I gotta censor myself for you kids."

"You're a model citizen, Casey Jones," Renet said seriously.

"Thanks, Pigtails," Casey grumbled. "No, but seriously, when I see those hunters again, it's _war._ They had no right grabbing us like… like we were animals!"

Mikey felt his bud-yokai on his head again. "I guess we looked like yokai to them."

"So? They still got it wrong, even after we told them," Casey said, sounding peeved. Mikey heard him take a deep breath and let it out. "Okay. Whatever. This isn't the time or the place — we need to get back, first."

"Yes, a plan of action!" Renet chimed in.

"Sure, let's call it that," Casey's voice came from across the room. "Oh, here. I think I found something. I think it's the door."

"Awesome!" Mikey said, impressed with how fast they were working. He moved over to Casey in the dark.

"Alright, guys. No matter what, stay behind me. I'm the oldest, so I'm in charge here," Casey said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, _brother_ ," Renet groaned, and Mikey could almost _hear_ her rolling her eyes.

"I have three big brothers," he told her. "You get used to that sort of thing."

"Well, I'm an only child, and my mom and I work things out fairly and make decisions tog —," Renet's voice went up an octave, "Well… um. Nevermind. Just open the door, Casey."

Mikey heard Casey grunt, and then a creaking, squeaking sound shuddered throughout the whole dark room. A vertical line of a color that wasn't total pitch black streamed through the room as Casey pushed two doors open. Music met Mikey's ears, and the smell of nature took over his nose. They were outside!

The three of them burst out of the shed, and then stopped in their tracks as their surroundings greeted them.

The first thing Mikey noticed, however, that it wasn't day. It was night.

"What the- ?" Casey murmured, but music drowned out his voice.

Mikey's jaw dropped.

The entire night sky was a beautiful blend of deep blues, purples, and blacks with stars that looked like rainbow crystals. The entrancing canvas of the sky was accented by a tremendous upside-down crescent moon — it was way too beautiful to be real, and immediately, Mikey knew they weren't in Eastman.

But of course, he didn't need to look at the _sky_ to be able to tell that.

They stood somewhat on a slight hill, a handful of stone steps leading down from their shed to the street. All around them, on the streets full of music and people carrying golden lanterns, the only buildings were wooden huts that stood slightly elevated from the ground on low and wide slab stilts with thatched, swooping roofs. Some buildings were taller and wider than others, some more decadent with golden trimmings, but all of them held a similar style — and looked straight out of a history textbook. Although it was night time, cherry blossom trees softly glowed from where they stood around them, lining the streets and speckled between the structures. All the people moving down the streets with the music and the golden lanterns wore kimonos.

They weren't in Eastman, all right.

If Mikey didn't know any better, from the look of the buildings and the way everyone was dressed, he'd have said they were in _feudal-era Japan!_

"Uh, _why_ does it look like we've changed continents?" Casey asked in a deadpan voice.

"Oh my gosh!" Renet exclaimed, pointing. "Not only that!"

Mikey was about to ask what she was talking about, but then he saw it. All the people that stood in the streets with the music and lanterns, plus all the people that stood on the sides of the streets — Mikey's stomach pitched downwards in realization as he took a closer look at their appearances.

These people… weren't people. They were all _yokai_. And not a single human was in sight.

This was _a yokai-only city!_

"Toto," Mikey whispered to his friends. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

"Nice one," Casey said appreciatively.

"Thanks, I've _always_ wanted to say that."

* * *

"We technically got _kidnapped_. So I was expecting the worst," Casey said, scratching his head and pacing. "But why does it look like we're in Asia?"

Mikey whistled lowly. "Yeah dudes, it looks like _Japan_. Old-timey Japan, at that. _Holy nacho cheese._ "

"Holy _bean burritos,_ " agreed Renet faintly.

"Holy… _guacamole?_ " Casey tried.

"I approve of that meal," Mikey said absentmindedly. His stomach grumbled in hunger, but for once he was more fascinated with his surroundings.

Along with whatever golden-lantern festival was going on at the time, merchants stood in front of their stalls, calling out their prices.

"Fabrics! Get fabrics! Ten coppers per yard!" one of them cried. He looked like a regular man in a blue kimono, but he had a fish head instead of a human one. He kept on having to turn his whole body to the side just to look in another direction, since his eyes were on either side of his face, mouth pointed up. "Half-off the ones that are chewed up!"

Another vendor had such a frightening appearance she could have been a witch from Mikey's childhood storybooks. Along with her looks, she sported an alarming gray pallor and her neck was long and curved like an upside-down U.

_Is that why Donnie's always correcting our postures?_ Mikey thought in gross fascination.

"Bracelets! Bangles! Just two silvers!" Long Curvy Neck Witch shouted in a creaky voice. "Even if they're broken, they can be used for arts and crafts! Just two silvers, this deal won't last after summoning hours!"

If the dark shed hadn't made Mikey doubt his level of awake-ness, this was definitely taking the cake for the ultimate 'Am I Dreaming?' moment. Mikey blinked, and pinched himself. _Nope, not dreaming! This is real. This is so real it's unreal._

He'd never seen this many yokai all at once before. The festival-goers, the merchants, and even just some yokai off to the side, watching — they all came in different shapes and sizes and colors. Skin tones ranged from holographic glassy black to sparkly iridescent white. Some had two legs, some had more, some just looked like blobs. Some had feathery wings and could fly like birds, and some just floated six feet above the ground.

_This. Is. So. COOL!_ Then Mikey wiped the grin off his face. _This is not Leo-approved. You're toast, Mikey. Please try to remember how much toast you're going to be._

"Someone please tell me we're all just having the same hallucination," groaned Casey. "And that we're not in a yokai-only city in Japan right now. How will I explain this to my parents? I don't even have my passport."

" _Are_ we really in Japan, though? Like, the moon can't be that large _anywhere_ , right?" Renet asked, pointing up.

They all looked up and considered the totally colossal crescent moon that was looking a lot like a croissant to Mikey. His tummy growled.

That's when it clicked for him. "Hey, that's it!"

His friends looked at him.

"I think we might be still in Eastman — just in a pocket dimension," Mikey told them as easily as he would have told them ' _it's a nice day out today_ '.

Naturally, they stared blankly at him.

"Last Halloween I fell into one just like this. Well, not just like this, but something sort of like this. All unreal and stuff. Remember, Casey?"

Casey nodded. "I do remember pulling you out of that bird yokai's stomach. Yes. Yikes."

"What does this mean, then? Are we in a yokai's stomach?" Renet made a face. "OMG, gross."

Casey laughed.

"That's why it's nighttime here, I'm betting. And the moon is so huge. Because it's a pocket dimension," Mikey explained to his friends, who nodded in understanding.

_And if we were banished to this place, maybe we have to get summoned as our way out,_ Mikey thought, pressing his thumb between his lips. His stomach growled again. Okay, why was he so hungry?

"We should ask someone how to get back home to our dimension," Mikey said, pushing aside his hunger pangs the best he could. He looked around, and spotted a bald man with a beard walking up to them. "There's someone right now! Hey, mister!"

"Mikey, don't!" Renet squawked, and Casey darted a hand over Mikey's mouth.

"Stop!" Casey whisper-exclaimed. "They might not be friendly to humans!"

Mikey pulled Casey's hand off and raised his eyebrows at his friends. "We don't _look_ human. Have you seen these babies on our heads?"

"Uh, no, we _do_ look human, Mikey. We just look like we're wearing hats. Who's going to think _we're_ yokai?" Casey challenged. Then he rubbed his eyes and sighed just as _Alopex and Spike_ popped into Mikey's brain. "Don't answer that."

In the light of the moon and the golden lanterns from the yokai festival, their bud-yokai babies were actually looking a little more colorful. On Renet and Casey's heads, Mikey could see the first glimpse of their petals from the tippy tops of the buds. Renet's was looking yellow, and Casey's was looking pink. Mikey wondered what colors his was showing.

"Oh, shoot, he's coming this way," Renet said, like it was a bad thing.

The man was tall and muscular and shirtless — one of the few yokai not dressed for the festival — and as he marched up the stairs with a glare in his silver eyes, Mikey wondered if maybe he'd made a mistake in calling to someone who looked capable of bench pressing a house with one arm.

And then Mikey glanced down, and saw something _not_ so intimidating. From the waist and below, the bald muscular man was a black furry rabbit! He had a pair of large bunny legs, and a little cottontail tail to match.

_Aw. Cute. That's yokai for you!_

The bunny man yokai hopped up the stairs to them. He carried on his back a large basket like it was a hiker's backpack.

"Um, hi, sir," Mikey started, taking the lead and trying not to stare at his bunny legs. "Excuse us, but —"

"WHAT'RE YEH DOIN' ON MAH PROPERTY?" the bunny man yokai roared, his silver eyes ablaze with flames. The three of them jumped at the aggression.

_So I guess he's not friendly,_ Mikey thought as the man glowered at them. "Um, we just had a question —"

"I BOUGHT THIS HERE LOT, SO SCRAM! SHOO!" the yokai thundered at them, his spit hitting Mikey in the cheek.

_Gross._

They didn't need to be told twice. The three of them hurried away from the shed they'd arrived in, darting down the stairs. They didn't stop at the bottom. Mikey took a left turn and continued to run, his friends following him, alongside the festival-goers, but faster. When they were significantly far away from the shed and the angry bunny man, Mikey, Casey, and Renet all stopped, catching their breaths and exchanging looks. All at once, they burst into snorts and laughter, unable to react in any other way after something like that.

"So cute," Mikey said between his laughs. "But so _mad_."

Casey wiped a tear from his eye. "Did you see his _tail?_ "

"I wish he - I wish he had bunny ears, too!" Renet snorted, and the three of them cracked up again at that image.

Finally, they sobered and Mikey looked around. The festival goers swayed and danced to the music while others watched.

"Guess we have to ask someone else for directions," he said.

"Everyone's so busy," Renet said. "I wonder who we can go to…"

Just as Mikey tried to think of an answer, they all heard a soft cry coming from nearby.

"Momma?" wailed a little kid with two distinct purple flames that hovered in front of his forehead, like horns.

Mikey stared at the kid yokai slightly agape, as did his friends, before realizing that the kid wasn't on fire or anything. _Phew._ The little yokai's eyes were watery and flashed different cool-toned colors - greens and blues - with an occasional bright yellow as he looked around. His little hands wrung themselves together at his naval. Other than the flame horns and the whole glowing eyes thing, he looked like a regular little kid.

Who had, apparently, lost his mother. The little yokai kid wailed again, his voice drowned out by festival noise. " _Moooommmmaaa…_ "

Mikey's heart ached for the little guy. He must have gotten separated from her in the festival crowd. _Aw… poor buddy._

It was never a fun feeling when you were little, getting separated from a parent in a busy place. When he was six years old, Mikey had gotten lost at the supermarket. He'd been near tears as he sat in the missing kids section waiting for his dad to find him. And his father had, in a matter of minutes, but it had still been scary.

As it probably was for this yokai child, too.

"Hi, little dude," Mikey called out before thinking about it. The yokai startled at him and froze, his eyes turning yellow and staying there. Mikey smiled.

"I'm Mikey." He lowered himself to sit on his heels so he would be closer to the kid's height. "Did you get lost?"

Tears spilled out of the yokai's eyes. He nodded.

"Are you looking for your mom?"

Another nod. More neon flashes.

"Well, that's no problem. My friends and I can help you look for her," Mikey offered cheerfully. "That's four pairs of eyes, right? And you know what they say, four is better than one!"

_It's not like we're having much progress with getting out of this place,_ Mikey thought. _Might as well help this poor little dude while we're here._

The yokai sniffed, nodding.

"Her name is Tuli," he blurted. "That's her name. She's Momma to me but Tuli to everyone else."

"Tuli, what a pretty name!" Renet said genuinely, and it made the yokai look at her.

"Tuli, got it," Casey said, and Mikey was thankful for having such awesome friends. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Casey started calling out. "TULI! Is there a TULI here? Tuli in the HOUSE?"

He sounded like a bad rapper, but the yokai kid seemed to think it was funny and smiled, which was a total win. Mikey grinned. _Wow, way to go, Casey!_ Casey continued to call out for Tuli over the festival music. Renet joined in, too, and Mikey scanned the crowds, looking for someone who resembled a distressed mom who'd lost her kid. Some yokai looked over their way, but no one seemed to be coming up claiming to be Tuli.

"Um, is it just me or is it thinning out?" Renet wondered.

Mikey looked around and saw what she meant. The street wasn't as full of yokai as before. Some were even stepping out and heading home. Maybe the festival was ending. The yokai kid sniffed, eyes wide and more panic colors — yellows and oranges — flooded his irises.

"It's over," he said, sounding scared. "Festival's over for t'night. Can't go home until I find Momma."

"Don't worry," Mikey reassured the yokai. "We'll stay here until your mom comes."

"Yeah, we can even play a game while we wait," Renet suggested. The yokai seemed to think about it, then nodded.

That was how Renet taught the little yokai how to play 'I Spy', and all four of them played, taking turns. The yokai kid liked talking, and by the time it was his turn to spy, his tears were dry.

"I spy with my little eye," the yokai kid paused for dramatic effect, something he'd picked up from Mikey — the broke off with a gasp, " _MOMMA!_ "

"Yuma! There you are!"

Mikey looked up to see a woman with white hair with pale pink streaks run up to them. Her golden kimono flowed around her in waves as she hurried to the yokai kid, scooping him up in her arms in an inescapable hug. Just like the yokai kid, purple flames sparked from her forehead as if they were horns.

"I just took my eyes off you for a second, and you disappeared. What did I tell you about running off, Yuma? Especially during the festival hours?" the yokai kid's mother, Tuli, asked.

It was so full of love that it made Mikey's chest pang for something he didn't have: a mom. Shaking himself, he pushed away his jealousy. He wasn't going to waste time thinking about stuff that was pointless to think about.

The yokai kid, _Yuma_ , buried his head in his mother's kimono — and nothing caught on fire despite their flaming foreheads. Mikey guessed it was a yokai thing. Flaming horns looked very cool. Tuli looked up at Mikey, Casey, and Renet over her child's head.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so mu— _you are humans._ "

It was more of a statement than a question, and her tone changed so fast Mikey almost thought they were speaking to a different person entirely. Tuli drew herself up, Yuma in her arms. Her eyes also could change color — and Mikey could see that they were now flashing in brilliant shades of reds and yellows and violets.

"See? Told you someone would be able to tell," Casey murmured from behind Mikey.

"You are humans," Tuli repeated, her eyes sharp. "What are humans doing here? It's not summoning hours." Her grip on Yuma tightened and she stepped away from them. "You aren't getting my little one, either."

_Summoning hours?_ Mikey shook his head and raised his hands up in defense, to show her they weren't here to 'get' anyone, but Renet beat him to it. She gasped, affronted.

"OMG, we're not here to hurt anyone!" she said. "We would, like, _never!_ "

"Yeah, we're nothing like those hunters who threw us in here," said Casey. "We're just trying to find a way out."

"Out?" Tuli echoed, and un-narrowed her eyes as she took in the buds sleeping on their heads. "What's going on with your heads?"

"We're — it's kind of a lot to explain?" Mikey said. "We're helping out a yokai friend of ours, but we got captured by these hunters who mistook us for yokai, and now we're in this place." Tuli stared at him. "Oh, I guess it wasn't a lot to explain."

Tuli looked at them curiously.

"Yeah. It's been a weird day," Casey said. "I don't suppose you might know how to get out of here?"

Mikey expected Tuli to shake her head or huff and walk away in contempt, since she apparently didn't like humans, but she surprised him when she leaned forward.

"I do, actually," she said in a lowered voice. "I have a way. And I think you should come with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought :)


	5. dreamy milkshakes, day unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update in one weekend! Enjoy!

Maybe it wasn't the best practice to follow a random yokai to their house, but what were they supposed to do? Besides, Tuli seemed trustworthy. She was a mom, after all.

About fifteen minutes of walking later, they came to Tuli's home. It was a small dark brown house with a steeply-peaked roof that Mikey knew was called a _minka house_ (Donnie had a book on the Edo period of Japan). When they stepped in, it looked as though it had been hand-made, with bamboo and wood. Part of the room had a lofted section for a second floor with a wooden ladder to reach it. Traditional and simple tatami mats covered the floor, and an array of gold lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting a dancing brightness all around. Everyone's shadows moved this way and that as they piled into the single-room house.

In minutes, food was prepared and set at the low table — a _chabudai_ , he also knew. Mikey was a little impressed with himself. He and his brothers were all half Japanese, but Leo was the one who knew the most about their heritage and culture on their father's side.

_Using my genius intellect like no one's business,_ Mikey thought before hitting the top of his bud-yokai against a lantern and tripping backwards onto his butt. _H-hubris—_

"You should all sit down and eat," Tuli said, placing a few plates out for them.

Mikey and Casey didn't need to be told twice, sitting across from Yuma. Mikey's stomach bubbled with hunger as he scanned over the food options. For the most part, it resembled a lot of what Mr. Murakami served at his restaurant. There was a platter of gyoza, decorative steamed vegetables, and enough noodle soup for them all, but also a frothy blue drink that Mikey wasn't sure about. Other than the blue drink, it all seemed vegetarian (and Mikey did _not_ want to be eating another yokai, something about that just didn't settle well with him), so it looked pretty good to eat, in his book!

Renet was still standing, her flower bud yokai casting a shadow on her face.

"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked their host. "We don't want to impose."

Tuli nodded pensively. "Normally I would never allow humans into my home. My husband isn't so fond of your kind, and neither am I." Tuli paused, glancing at Yuma, who was already stuffing his face with the blue goo. "But… you watched out for my kid. I don't think you had ulterior motives when you did that. And you _are_ carrying those buds on your head to help another one of us in need. So dinner is my way of repaying you."

Mikey felt like he was getting complimented by the middle school tech support guy — he was the strictest, grumpiest, _complainiest_ adult ever (Mikey suspected he didn't even _like_ kids), so even a semi-positive statement was like, a huge deal.

"Besides," Tuli said. "the sooner you sit down, girl, the sooner I can explain how you three can get out of this world. So _sit_."

Renet sat down immediately, right next to Yuma, eyes wide. Yuma looked up at her and smiled, his lips blue as he gestured to the blue drink.

"Want some bug poo?"

Okay, that was horrifying. Mikey inhaled sharply, Casey coughed in disbelief, and Renet went pale.

"O-oh, no thanks, Yuma. I'm… allergic."

"Yuma, _why_ do you insist on calling it that to frighten others?" Tuli asked with a sigh. To them she said, "It's just a dreamberry milkshake. Completely edible, no bug byproducts, yokai or otherwise. And it's almond milk-based, so no animal byproducts, either."

Mikey, Casey, and Renet all sighed in relief together, and their bud-yokai sleep-sighed in unison with them. Yuma giggled with an innocent layer of charm.

"What's a _dreamberry?_ " Mikey asked.

"It's the fruit of a bush that grows nearby," Tuli said. "It's said to promote dreams, but I wouldn't know. Yuma and I don't have dreams at all, so it has no effect on us."

"Whoa, totally rad," Mikey said.

"Sounds interesting," Renet agreed.

"It's yummy," Yuma said, taking another sip.

Tuli smiled gently at her son. "It _does_ make a delicious drink."

Casey nodded. "Milkshakes are great. Vanilla, especially."

Renet went, "Strawberry!"

"Chocolate," Mikey agreed at the same time with a nod.

They halted at their different answers. Then the three of them locked each other in a stare-down.

Yuma looked between them. "I know strawberry, but what's vanilla and chocolate?"

They all looked at him in alarm.

"We don't have those flavors here," Tuli explained.

Renet dove into her backpack and pulled out a couple granola bars. "At the very least I have a some chocolate granola bars, if your mom is willing to let you try."

"You're… _weirdly_ prepared," Mikey noticed, eyeing her backpack.

Renet looked at him like she'd been caught for some reason, then shifted her eyes away, a high-pitched laugh leaving her lips like a defense mechanism as she hurriedly offered the bars to Yuma.

Yuma gasped in delight. "Can I, Momma?"

"Only after dinner," Tuli said, pouring out the dreamberry milkshake for Casey and Renet, whose cups were closer. Tuli looked at Mikey. "Would you like some?"

"Sure thing," Mikey agreed, holding out his cup as the yokai woman poured it out from the main pitcher.

He took a sip — it tasted like no other fruit he'd ever had before. The sweetness melted on his tongue just right.

"Whoa. This is so good," Casey said after his first sip. Mikey and Renet nodded viciously in agreement.

"I'm glad," Tuli said with a little laugh at their antics.

"Yummy bug poo!" Yuma cheered, despite the painstaking look from his mother.

It was so weird how _normal_ it felt to be having dinner at a yokai lady's home in a different dimension, talking about milkshakes. Tuli spoke to them with such ease that Mikey almost forgot that she was a yokai. Almost. She still had flames coming out of her head in the shape of horns.

They all dug into their food — and the moment the flavors entered Mikey's mouth, they were so good and intense that his jaw ached for a moment because of his overacting saliva glands. The dumplings and the noodle soup was _divine_ , the flavor different from what Mikey could get back home but at the same time, the perfect blend of spices that made him feel like he was at a festival himself. He closed his eyes, and by the sound of silence at the chabudai, he could guess his friends were enjoying this as much as he was.

"This is so amazing, Tuli," he said after a couple minutes. "Thank you so much."

"Yes, thank you," Casey and Renet said.

"And thank you for helping us out," Mikey added. He wouldn't have known what to do otherwise.

Tuli's smile didn't leave, but Mikey could see something shift in her expression. A seriousness cast over her eyes as she sat up straighter.

"Dinner was my way to thank you for helping Yuma," she said. "But I _personally_ benefit from sending you three back to your home world. It's not something I am doing out of altruism, so you don't need to thank me for it."

T _hat's still a lot better than how we were treated by that yokai bunny man,_ Mikey thought.

"Speaking of which," Casey said for Mikey and Renet. "How does this work? Do you have a portal, or something?"

"No," Tuli said, pausing to sip her soup and setting it down again. "There is only one way out of this world, and that is through a circular summoning symbol. But someone from the outside has to do the summoning."

_That's what I thought! But…_

"Who's going to do that?" Mikey asked, voicing his thoughts. "Nobody even knows we're here."

Renet waited until she had swallowed her bite before saying, "Except for Alopex and Spike."

"They don't know we're human, though," Casey grumbled, still annoyed by the fact, apparently.

"Let me explain. Our night sky doesn't ever change, so it's hard to tell time, but every twenty-four hours there is a window of time we like to call summoning hours," Tuli explained. "It will be summoning hours in a few hours time, and that is when those human hunters will need to call on some of the yokai who reside here. I am always, without fail, summoned during summoning hours."

Before Mikey could wrap his head around that, Tuli's next words were pressing.

"When they attempt to summon me for their silly little battle, a 'portal', as you put it, will appear, and you three will go in my place and they won't have time to re-summon me. Simple."

" _Simple?_ " Mikey echoed.

Renet stared. " _Battle?_ "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa — will that work?" Casey asked.

"Yes. Those human hunters do so every night," Tuli explained in an off-handed manner. "They summon powerful yokai to battle to better train themselves in the art of… well, obtaining power over us, I imagine. Many of us come back here, bruised and injured and needing to be tended to." She nailed Mikey, Casey, and Renet with a hard look. "You three were banished to this place by mistake, so the humans will help you when you explain why you carry flora atop your head, but they view us yokai as tools. All yokai who reside here were taken forcefully from their homes. I used to live peacefully as a fire sprite with my sisters many years ago, with a home, a family, a culture. When I was captured, I was lucky to not be slaughtered. It doesn't change the fact that us yokai here are all prisoners and will continue to be forever, perhaps."

Mikey got chills at that. _Prisoners, forever?_ "So you don't have a choice?"

"That's horrible," Renet said quietly.

Casey frowned. "If they summon you back into the real world all the time, why don't you just escape when they do?"

"I used to try until a few years ago," Tuli admitted, staring down at her hands. "Each attempt was fruitless and painful. They were sharp, those humans. Even with all the enchantments I could cast, they somehow always had more. More in numbers and more alchemy. I was relentless, but so were they."

As if to demonstrate, Tuli pulled back the sleeve of her kimono, revealing a dreadful arm full of thick scars that looked like lightning bolts, but not in a cool way. _Horrifying_ was the only word Mikey could think of. Thick ridges of skin tissue had conjoined on top of each other in a convoluted veiny pattern, and they spread down her arm. The scars were black and crusty, but also a crack split each mountain ridge the long way, showing off a red, fleshy burn that had Casey gagging and Renet turning her head away so fast Mikey heard her crack her neck and whimpering. Tuli's arm not only looked like it had been through something terrible, but it looked as if it still hurt to move it.

"The… humans did this?" Mikey asked in horror, his voice coming out in an uncomfortable squeak.

Tuli held his gaze bravely and nodded. " _A_ human. They called him… Lord Simultaneous. He had a… _special_ way with alchemy and how he chose to, er, _discipline_ us yokai."

Her voice held some dry humor, but Mikey still couldn't react. He couldn't stop staring at her horrible scars.

Tuli let her kimono sleeve cover her arm again. "I stopped trying to escape after I met my husband during one of the nightly festivals here. And then I had Yuma. This place might not be where I come from, but the humans never enter this world themselves. They don't know about Yuma, and my husband is not a strong enough fighter for them to battle against, so they will never be summoned. In a twisted way, it's safer in this prison than it is out there."

The kids stared at her, processing this.

In less words, hadn't Mother Tree said the same thing? That the people who were part of this Miyamoto clan, these _yokai hunters_ , were no good? Alopex and Spike clearly weren't. If Mikey and his friends had been able to put up a serious fight, would the two adults have harmed them in the same way Tuli had been harmed? Mikey looked down at his plate. He had a few bites left, but he'd pretty much lost all his appetite.

And what about Leatherhead? Mikey thought of the hunter who had saved him and his friends on Valentine's Day. At least Leatherhead had destroyed (supposedly) a bad yokai.

But who was to say he wouldn't have harmed a good one?

_Huh. Good ones and bad ones,_ Mikey repeated in his mind. _If Klunk’s existence doesn’t proof that there can be both… Mother Tree’s and Tuli’s and Yuma’s definitely do. Morality… is a spectrum._ He straightened up with the realization. _That’s super deep. Totes profound. Am I a genius?_

There was a loud snore from the table, earning everyone's attention. Yuma had fallen asleep, his little body slumped against Renet's side.

"Oh. Looks like this one is all tuckered out," Tuli said with a laugh. "Come here, sweetie. Ready for bed?"

She scooped up her sleepy son in her arms and stood. She looked back at them, but Tuli's eyes didn't meet theirs. Her eyes were rose-colored with a sharpness of gold, and they lingered on the teenagers' heads, where the sleeping baby flower bud yokai were.

"Summoning hours isn't for some time. I'd recommend getting some sleep yourselves to retain your energy."

"Retain our energy?" Casey echoed, his mouth stuffed as he cleared off his plate, and then glanced at Mikey's. Mikey gave him his extras, no questions asked.

Tuli climbed up the loft to the second floor to lie Yuma down. From there, she turned back to them and pointed at her own head to gesture at theirs.

"Those yokai," she said. "Don't you know? They're draining your energy."

Mikey blinked. "I-is that true?"

Renet gasped. "OMG, is that why we like, _promptly_ passed out when we first got here?"

They quickly explained to her how they'd fallen and then fallen _asleep_ , and Tuli nodded.

"Certainly. Going through those portals will drain a little bit of energy from you, and you were already being depleted, so no wonder you were tired when you first arrived. Get some sleep. It will help. I'll wake you once it's time to go."

That was that. Mikey was feeling like a nap, so they cleared off the table and helped Tuli wash the dishes, and then Renet placed her chocolate granola bars on the table like they were checks for the meal.

"So Yuma can have them later," she said.

Tuli opened up a trunk and pulled out some blankets and pillows for them, apologizing for not having more. Not for the first time, Mikey marveled at how nice she was. Even though Tuli _insisted_ that she was only doing this for her own benefit of getting a night off from being summoned, it was pretty awesome of her for giving them food and a place to spend the night. Thanking Tuli for her hospitality, the three kids got to making a spot for themselves in the corner of the minka to sleep.

Casey took the corner, Renet took the other side, and there was plenty of space for Mikey to lie down in the middle. They all wrapped themselves up in their blankets like they were sleeping bags until they looked like burritos, and sighed in unison. All was quiet for a few moments, and then Tuli flicked her wrist gently. All the lanterns in the minka went out except for one on the far wall. It acted as a nightlight, offering a dim glow in the otherwise dark house.

"Good night," Tuli said. "I'll wake you up when it's time."

"Good night," they all said back.

Then it was quiet. Lying in the dark and feeling the steady breathing of the yokai bud on his head, Mikey wondered what time it was back home. A stab of guilt followed right after, knowing his brothers would be worried sick if he broke curfew. He hated making them worry.

Casey snored on his right, and Mikey heard Renet shift a little to his left. At least they were here with him. He felt another stab of guilt for making _their_ families worry about them, too. Casey and Renet's families were generally more lenient about curfew than his own (based on what Mikey knew), but it was _his_ curiosity that had led them here in the first place.

Now, because of him, they bore the burden of getting out of here and completing the task that Mother Tree had given them with her children.

_They're draining your energy,_ Tuli had said to them, about Mother Tree's babies.

Was that what Mother Tree had meant by the "risk" she was putting them in? They certainly had gotten themselves in a pickle. But the important thing was getting the babies out of Eastman by sunset… tomorrow. Which Mikey had no idea how much longer they had.

And what would happen if they didn't make it on time?

_It's gonna be okay,_ Mikey told himself as his eyelids drooped and he felt himself falling asleep.

* * *

Well, the dreamberry milkshake _definitely_ worked.

In the depths of Mikey's slumber, to greet him first was a terrifying visual of people screaming and running through Eastman with their arms shielding their heads as dark black clouds viciously rained down blue goop. Mikey looked up, and saw that the clouds weren't _clouds_ at all, but _giant insects_ , and for some reason Yuma was with him, pointing up and hollering, "BUG POO!", his eyes flashing like a disco ball. The noise in the background was on full volume, the colors were bright and getting brighter, and every motion Mikey made was _super_ speedy, like he was on fast-forward or something.

Random dream things started happening faster too, like Mother Tree's wrens doing synchronized swimming in a public pool with Klunk in the middle, Mr. Murakami's spicy noodles coming to life and flying through the sky, a flurry of dodgeballs with Jennika's judgmental face on them hurtling at Mikey without warning, and then he woke up, heart pounding.

Right. So.

_That_ happened.

_On one hand that was awesome but on the other hand I'm definitely traumatized by giant noodle monsters,_ Mikey thought.

Besides him, Casey snored softly, snickering in his sleep every now and then. Mikey cracked a smile, wondering what his friend was dreaming about.

Rain pitter-pattered outside the minka. Mikey felt wide-awake, and once again wondered what time — or day — it was back home. He hoped it hadn't been as long as it felt. Taking a moment to soothe his pulsing anxiety at not having told his brothers where he was, he tried to refocus his mind on what he _could_ do, not on what he couldn't.

Mikey turned his head to the left and blinked. Renet wasn't there.

Where had she gone?

Sitting up, Mikey looked around the dimly lit room. Tuli and Yuma still slept soundly on the loft, but the rest of the minka was empty. He glanced out the window on Casey's side and spotted her sitting on the engawa, her yokai bud emboldening her silhouette as she munched on a granola bar.

He quietly slipped out of the hut, sliding the door softly behind him. It felt like the dead of night, with only the sound of heavy moonlit rain shushing the yokai city in a violet glow.

"Hey, can't sleep?"

Renet startled slightly, only to relax when she saw him, the vines of her sleeping yokai flower bud rolling softly against her cheeks.

"Oh! OMG, hi! Yeah. You know, I think it was the dreamberry milkshake," she said. "I had a _weird_ dream. Then I got hungry, so, you know… here, have one, if you want."

There was something dejected lurking in Renet's face that made her smile hard to believe, but Mikey accepted the granola bar she offered and sat down next to her.

"Same here! Mine was _freaky_ random," Mikey said. He jabbed a thumb towards the window. "Casey's sleep-laughing right now, FYI."

The corners of Renet's lips lifted. "We'll have to ask him what he was dreaming about."

"Mother Tree," Mikey said with no hesitation.

And just like that, he got Renet to giggle.

She yanked up her hands to cover up a snort before chiding, "OMG, don't expose him like that!"

"It's not even a secret!"

They both broke down in whisper-laughter, making sure to be quiet as to not wake anyone up. Going off of the momentum, Mikey picked up Renet's mini backpack, turning it around so she could see the sparkly blue unicorn.

" _Oy! Who the Snickers woke me up?_ " Mikey said in a silly voice, but kept it quiet. He jolted the backpack, making the unicorn do a double-take as if it had just seen Renet. " _Oy! It's you!_ "

Most people their age (or even younger) would have rolled their eyes at Mikey making a unicorn on a backpack talk like it was a puppet. But Mikey and Renet were birds of a feather when it came to their brand of silliness — and this bit had never failed to make her laugh before.

Renet wasn't able to hold back her grin.

"Hi, Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt," she said.

_She always loves it when I do the voice!_ Mikey thought with a victorious swell in his chest.

" _Oy!_ " Mikey said again in an angry huff, and Renet snorted out a giggle.

Part of the character Mikey had built up for Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt was that he said " _Oy!_ " a lot, and also _super aggressively._ The first time Mikey had tried the bit, he and Renet had broke down in tears laughing because they kept on saying 'oy' like a couple of dorks.

" _Oy, how dare you laugh?_ " Mikey voiced for Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt. Part of the unicorn's charm was also in sounding like a grouchy middle-aged substitute teacher who couldn't get his students under control. " _Oy! Do you think I want to look sparkly all the time? This smile might be stitched in permanently, but I am very angry right now! Oy!_ "

Renet doubled over in giggles that she tried to contain, batting her backpack out of Mikey's hands. He grinned at her.

" _Stoooop_ ," she complained between gasps of breath. "You're literally making my stomach hurt. Don't say ' _oy_ ' again! I don't want to wake anyone up!"

"I won't, I won't!" Mikey laughed. "Besides, I think it worked."

"What worked?"

"You're a looking a little cheered up now!"

Renet's smile faded.

"Or not," Mikey said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault. You _did_ cheer me up," Renet said, still looking down. "It's just something… that's been bothering me all day, I guess."

The rainwater on the street reflected the moon, making them look like puddles of milk. It was kind of peaceful, if they weren't stuck in an different dimension.

"So what is it?" Mikey asked. "If laughter doesn't make it go away, it must be something big."

Renet's shoulders sagged.

"It _is_ something big, isn't it?"

Renet gulped, her eyes so sad. Mikey wished he could help. Renet had always been there to cheer him up when he landed himself in the nurse's office at school.

"Homesickness?" Mikey guessed.

Renet nodded, but then halted and shook her head.

"We'll get home," Mikey told her, trying to be reassuring. "I know it's scary thinking that our families are worried about us and are probably starting to look for us, but — "

"My mom isn't looking for me," Renet said in a sudden burst. Mikey blinked at her, and she glanced at him. "We had a really bad fight Friday night. It's been bugging me all day! I'm still a little angry at her, you know, but… but… "

Mikey looked at Renet in surprise. He couldn't imagine Renet being angry at anyone, the way he sometimes was with his brothers. It was a naive thought, though. Obviously, every kid had disagreements with their family members sometimes.

"More than anything I just want to make up with her, but I said some pretty mean stuff I shouldn't have, and she's probably still hurt about it," Renet said with a miserable sigh. "I was planning to spend all day just out of the house so she wouldn't have to see me. That's why I made that excuse about my room being like, a total pigsty, you know? It's not a pigsty, actually. I just said that so I didn't have to tell you the real reason why I didn't want to go home. I'm scared she's still mad at me." She gestured to her backpack. "And… that's why I packed all the water bottles and the granola bars and candy. I'm prepared, _sure_ , but just to stay away and hide."

_Oh,_ Mikey thought, glancing at her backpack. _Right, she had that on in Mr. Murakami's, too._

She straightened her legs off the engawa, parallel to the ground, as if to distract herself from what she was saying. "I'm sorry for venting at you. I've already vented at Casey and Mr. Murakami. I'm just one big problem."

Raindrops fell on Renet's ankles and sneakers.

"You're not!" Mikey protested. "Of course you can vent to me, Renet. That's what friends are for."

"But _you_ shouldn't have to hear me complain about my mom. That's why I didn't want to tell you if I could help it. I should be thankful that I even _have_ one, because you—," Her face paled as she stopped abruptly and her hands flew to her mouth as she stared at Mikey. "Oop, I mean—!"

Mikey looked down. That was true, about the 'being thankful' thing.

Renet's voice was all mortification. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't think, I didn't mean for it to come out so bad! I'm really sorry!"

Mikey scratched his arm, embarrassed at her embarrassment. "It's fine, Renet. Really."

Renet buried her face in her hands. "See? I'm doing it again. Everything I do is wrong. I'm always messing up. If I'm not accidentally whacking dodgeballs into people's faces or tripping over people in the dark and causing _physical_ pain, I'm saying the wrong thing and causing _emotional_ pain."

It didn't _hurt_ , though. Strangely enough, Mikey felt no sting from what Renet had said to him. It wasn't like how Jennika had offhandedly brought up Mother's Day and made Mikey overthink and over-feel for the next twenty-four hours. Maybe it was because they were friends so that stuff was fine?

"You're _okay_ , Renet. Serious. It's not like you offended me."

"Still, I shouldn't have said it like that," Renet muttered from the hand-prison she'd made for her face. "Sav was right. I am, like, so stupid."

Mikey didn't know who this _Sav_ guy was, but enough was enough!

" _Stop_ that."

Renet looked at him in surprise. Mikey folded his arms and gave her a look.

"Stop calling my best friend stupid. Stop beating down on her, too," he said to her. "She doesn't deserve that."

Renet stared at him, letting his words register. Then she dared to smile. "I'm your best friend?"

"That's _so_ not the point right now!"

"You're my best friend, too!" Renet said quickly, and then shut up. "You're right. Of course. No more pity parties."

"The next time you start calling yourself something that starts with _S-T-U-P_ , it better be _stupendous_. Because that's what you are, not the other thing. In fact, that other word is going in the garbage. Boom. It's gone."

Renet sniffed. "Aw. _Thanks_ , Mikey."

He leaned over and gave her a hug. When they let go of each other, he could see that she was sitting up straighter, slightly rejuvenated.

"Sorry for like, the whole freakout," she said after a moment.

"That was _barely_ a freakout. You should see my brother Raph when someone scratches the paint off his bike," Mikey said, and they both laughed.

But now Mikey knew what had been going on with his best friend, and why she'd been acting weird and trying to not bring up the topic of her mom. And he could imagine pretty well how she felt. In all the fights Mikey had walked away from one of his brothers in, the weight of the guilt had always felt like a rock pressing down his insides like a paperweight until they'd apologized to each other.

Mikey felt his determination solidifying even more.

"Okay, look. I got us in this mess in the first place, so I'm going to make sure we get out. And we will. And then you can make up with your mom, and she'll forgive you no matter what you said, because that's just how moms are," Mikey said. He didn't know how he _knew_ it was true, since he hadn't had a mother since he was three, but that didn't matter right now. "So don't worry."

Renet nodded. "You and Casey and Mr. Murakami are the best, you know that?"

Mikey grinned.

It would have been a great conclusion to their friendship bonding moment if it hadn't been for a dark silhouette of a half bunny, half man appear in front of them in the rain just then. Mikey could have sworn lightning flashed and thunder struck just for that moment.

"WHAT'RE YEH DOIN' ON MAH PROPERTY?"

Mikey screamed.

* * *

If the bunny man yokai's voice hadn't woken everyone up in the minka, Mikey's scream probably had. He continued to scream as the bunny man yokai scooped him and Renet in each arm before thundering into the house. It was a miracle his yokai bud hadn't woken up.

"TULI!" shouted the bunny man yokai, sounding almost panicked. "YUMA!"

It was, without a doubt, the same yokai from before who had yelled at them. Mikey and Renet tore out of his grasp and ran to Casey, who had jolted awake with bad case of bud-head (Mikey couldn't help but pun, even in this situation), the leaves and vines poking out this way and that.

"What the —?" he shouted when he saw the bunny man yokai.

"We didn't mean to be in front of your property that one time!" Renet cried.

"Yeah, we're sorry about that! We don't mean any harm!" Mikey said.

The bunny man snarled at them.

"Daisuke, will you _calm down?_ Yuma and I are safe, and those children you treated like sacks of flour are our _guests_ ," Tuli scolded from the loft.

The bunny man seemed to sigh in relief. His silver eyes were still sharp when they landed on the three teenagers huddling in the corner.

"Um, hi again?" Mikey squeaked.

"Did you follow us here?" Casey asked weakly, and Mikey could see that the older teen was trying hard not to laugh at the yokai's little bunny tail.

"How did yeh land _these_ _bulb-folk_ as guests?" the bunny man named Daisuke asked slowly.

“I do not love that nickname, sir,” Renet said.

"They're humans in need of help," Tuli replied.

Daisuke's silver eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "HUMANS?"

As Tuli started to explain to the fuming bunny man, Renet nudged Mikey and Casey, and they looked at her to see their friend's eyes blinking rapidly with meaning. She looked between Tuli and Daisuke and then at them, eyebrows raised.

"I don't know Morse code, Pigtails," whispered Casey, not understanding her blinks.

"No, I'm not doing anything with Morse code," Renet whispered back. "Don't you see who that bunny guy is?"

"The guy who yelled at us for breathing?" Casey asked dryly.

"Dad!" Yuma cheered, scrambling out of bed and jumping off the loft and flinging himself at Daisuke.

The bunny man yokai swiftly caught his son and hugged him. Mikey and Casey looked at each other, lightbulbs going off in their heads. Now it made sense!

Wow, of _all_ the yokai that they could have run into, they'd run into the angry bunny man yokai who was related to this family.

"I'd do introductions, but we're running short on time," Tuli said, climbing down from the loft, rubbing her temples. "No time to waste. Summoning hours are here. When the portal arrives —"

A brilliant flash of blue light appeared nearby, in the minka. A glowing, floating circle with symbols drawn in it spun clockwise, and so did a gust of wind.

“Holy smokes!” Mikey yelped.

"I'm guessing that's the portal?" Casey shouted over the wind.

"Correct guess!" Tuli yelled as she attempted to step away from the summoning circle. There seemed to be an invisible force trying to pull her in. Daisuke grabbed onto her waist, Yuma cradled in the other hand. Holding onto her husband for steadiness, Tuli said, "Time to try something new. Ready, you three?"

"Are we just stepping into it?" Mikey asked, running in between Tuli and the summoning circle. He felt some kind of pull latch onto him.

"Yes, you'll take my place and it'll close after you!" Tuli called.

Mikey, Casey, and Renet looked at each other, nodding wordlessly. They were ready. They linked hands, Mikey in the middle, and Casey pulled them along.

"Thank you for everything!" the oldest of the three said over his shoulder.

"Bye, Tuli! Bye, Yuma!" Renet said, and the little yokai kid waved at them.

Mikey made eye contact with Daisuke. He didn't want to leave on a _completely_ sour note. "Uh, we'll stay out of your hair!"

Daisuke, who was bald, growled, and Mikey winced at his mistake.

"I mean, we gotta bounce!"

_Oh no, badly timed bunny pun!_

"I mean, catch you later?"

Then Mikey and his friends were pulled through the summoning circle, and falling… upwards. Just before the world below them disappeared from sight, Mikey could hear Daisuke shout something after them.

"HOW ABOUT YEH _DON'T COME BACK?_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Daisuke and Tuli are my new OTP  
> \- no, idk what accent Daisuke is supposed to have lol  
> \- moony pineapple butt scene is me trying to relive my chaotic sense of humor at 13 thru these kiddos and cringing the whole time tbh  
> \- Internal conflict is my JAM so I hope Renet's little side arc is a little bit interesting!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! :)


	6. escaping city hall on sunday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re back once again! This is a longer chapter but let's say it's a literary choice and definitely not because pacing is a tricky beast to tame. Anyway. I had to rewrite this chapter like 3 times because it wasn’t coming out right - but I’m really happy with this polished version! Thanks for all the kind words, and I hope everyone enjoys!

_Okay, it's official,_ Mikey thought as the portal yanked his body through the space between dimensions. _Sparkles make everything better._

Last time, falling through the portal had been quite terrifying. But this time, they were surrounded by a gorgeous sight. White sparkles stood out against the black canvas around them, giving off a dazzling light. As they were pulled upwards, Mikey's insides felt all floaty and fuzzy. He and his friends were all at a loss for words as they took in the sight around them. Then, all of a sudden, a boost of momentum blasted against him and his friends, _shooting_ them through the portal at an incredible speed.

Mikey and his friends screamed at once as they were flung across the inter-dimensional space at probably seventy miles per hour.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE PLEASE DON'T KILL US," Casey shrieked over the wind that blasted around them. His voice was so high he sounded like a different person.

"MAYBE FALLING ASLEEP LAST TIME WAS A MERCY!" wailed Renet, her voice getting taken and spread into the wind.

As the black space speckled with sparkles blurred around them, Mikey opened his mouth, just like he would've if they were on a roller coaster at an amusement park. His heart was pumping, blood was rushing, adrenaline was spiking — but instead of being terrified, he did something else.

"WOOOOHOOOOOOO!" he hollered, splitting the wind with his cheer. And it felt _amazing_.

_How did we fall asleep through this last time?_ Mikey thought in wonder.

It was like falling asleep while bungee-jumping. But Tuli had said that their energies were being drained by the yokai on their heads and the portal must have been too much for them last time. It was a good thing they'd recharged at Tuli's, because this was _awesome!_

Mikey whooped once more. " _COWABUNGA,_ DUDES!"

"NO, _NOT_ COWABUNGA!" Casey yelled, sounding equal parts terrified and offended at Mikey's lack of fear. "YOU'RE INSANE!"

Mikey laughed like a madman.

The sparkles grew bigger, making the darkness disappear. As they reached the end of the portal, Mikey prepared to land — he was pretty good at athletics and agility, after all — but the ground met them faster than he expected, and he immediately lost his balance and tumbled onto his butt. Casey and Renet landed in a heap next to him, the portal around them zapping out of existence around them.

They were back!

_Probably_.

He needed a second to catch his breath before he could sit up.

Renet was giggling softly. "You're totally _crazy_ , Mikey."

"Yeah, your YOLO energy is really something else," Casey panted as they all laid there on a cool, damp floor that felt a little gross. "That was _terrifying._ "

Mikey grinned, about to respond, before a wave of nausea hit him.

_Ugh. Maybe Renet had a point about sleeping through it being a mercy,_ Mikey thought, closing his eyes for a moment and focusing on not upchucking Tuli's awesome dinner.

He didn't usually get motion sickness (poor Donnie totally did), but maybe portalling through dimensions had its own brand of whiplash. From Renet's groan and Casey's grumble, he could tell they were going through something similar, too. Despite it all, Mikey couldn't help but feel a surge of victory as he blearily blinked up at a dark, damp ceiling. Wherever they were, it stank, like wet towels, but Mikey was too relieved to even make a face. Even though he didn't know what kind of crusty building they were in, the cool air-conditioning felt like _home sweet dimension._

"Guys," Renet whispered intensely just then, her voice pitching up like it always did when she was nervous or flustered. " _Guys._ "

Mikey didn't want to sit up. Couldn't they have another few seconds to recover from the portal sickness?

But what Renet was worried about came in the form of a boy's voice only a few feet away.

"So," someone said, intrigue lacing their words. " _This ought to be interesting._ "

* * *

At the voice that didn't belong to any of them, Mikey sat up with a jerk.

They weren't alone.

Standing around Mikey and his friends were four dark figures. They had various heights and weights, but the first thing Mikey noticed was that all of them wore very dark clothes that covered them up from head to toe. Even their faces had been wrapped in a black cloth, leaving only their eyes uncovered in an unnerving way.

They were in some kind of cellar — flickering old bulbs were the only source of light in the basement-type room casting a sickly dim glow on the room. The walls were bare, cracked, and windowless. It looked like something out of a horror film, and that alone was making Mikey's stomach churn. Then he looked down, and saw the summoning circle that had brought them here drawn messily on the floor, the ink thick and dark.

It looked like it had been drawn in blood.

_Oh my god,_ Mikey thought, a full-body chill overtaking him dizzily. _This is a cult. We've been summoned by a cult. They probably sacrificed something to summon us._

Mikey could hear Casey sucking in his breath sharply, and Renet freezing up besides him.

No one said anything for a split second.

Effectively freaked out, Mikey's eyes ran over the new people, rapidly trying to figure out if he needed to run for his life yet.

Three of the four creepy people looked like fully-grown adults, but the fourth, the one who had spoken first, had the eyes of a kid… around their age.

"Look at that, boys," the kid said, in the same dry drawl as before, his eyes dancing on Mikey, Casey, and Renet with interest. "Dopey summoned three supernaturals instead of one."

One of the adults, probably Dopey, snickered. "Heh-heh. You're welcome."

The kid's eyes flashed dangerously, and Mikey noticed that they were two different colors: one ice blue, one dull green.

Another one of the adults — this one was shorter and stockier than Dopey — whacked Dopey in the back of the head. "It's not a _compliment_ , you _dope_. We only get to use the summoning spell once per day, and you messed it up!"

Dopey looked pretty offended, even through his face was covered. "Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh- _uh!_ "

"Yuh- _huh!_ "

Mikey, Casey, and Renet exchanged looks quickly. Okay, good. They were all on the same page: the _what-the-heck-is-happening_ page.

"Should we say something?" Renet whispered to him and Casey.

Before Mikey or Casey could answer, the kid glared at the two bickering adults.

"Dopey, Dumbo, shut your pie holes before I make you," he said irritatedly. Then, to Dopey, "You clearly drew the summoning circle wrong."

Poor Dopey looked so confused. "But uh… it worked?"

"No, it didn't, you fool," the kid said rather rudely. "We're supposed to battle with a woman of fire every day to improve our skills. _That's_ what the summoning circle we were given was for." Grabbing Dopey by the ear, the kid gestured at the three teens. "Does _that_ look like her?"

"Ummmm. Uhhh… no," Dopey said slowly, seeming to get it. His eyes were downcast. "No, I guess it doesn't."

Mikey felt kind of bad for the guy, but then remembered that the summoning circle was drawn in blood and immediately lost the sympathy.

"Something must have gotten messed with with how he drew it," Dumbo piped up to the kid, as if he were trying to get Dopey into more trouble.

"It's not my fault the marker broke and the ink got everywhere!" Dopey cried, pulling out a giant red marker with a crack in its main tube.

Mikey, Casey, and Renet sagged in relief.

_Oh, thank goodness. Busted marker, not a blood sacrifice,_ Mikey thought weakly. On the growing list of things he was going to need to tell Leo about, the more blood he could keep _out_ of it, the better.

"So, then," the kid said, looking at them. His eyes met with Mikey's and stayed there. "I know you three can talk. Where is the woman of fire?"

As uncomfortable as Mikey felt with maintaining an unblinking eye contact with the kid, it made sense why these guys were confused. The portal had been for Tuli, and Mikey, Casey, and Renet had bypassed it — there'd been nothing wrong with the way the summoning circle had been drawn. But as talkative as Mikey was normally (or as much as his brothers complained that he was), right now Mikey wasn't sure that his mouth could even form words.

_But_ … just because these guys were dressed creepy and they were in a super creepy place, didn't necessarily mean that they were _bad_. All they had to do was clear up the misunderstanding, right?

"Um, yeah, so, _hi_ ," Mikey said, pushing up off the ground and to his feet. "I bet this is really weird, but we're _not_ supernaturals. Or, um, yokai, or whatever term you're used to using. We're humans who got stuck in that other dimension. I'm Mi- _ooowwww!_ "

The kid struck Mikey in the middle of his introduction, hitting him in the chest with a smack. Casey and Renet shot up besides him in shock, which, if Mikey wasn't in shock himself by the kid's _audacity_ , he would have been touched by his friends' protectiveness.

"What _gives?_ " Casey snapped.

At first, Mikey thought he'd been punched. But no, the kid had done something else. Looking down at his chest, Mikey saw that the kid had stuck a sticky note on his orange-and-gray sweatshirt. Something had been scrawled on it messily. Mikey pulled it off and turned it around to read it. _F-R-E-E_ — wait, freeze? Like freeze _him_?

The kid smacked Casey and Renet in the faces with the same sticky note, but then stared at Mikey after noticing he'd taken it off.

"Wait, what? Why isn't the spell working?" the kid demanded, staring at Mikey in shock. "That should have frozen you for a few seconds! Long enough for me to banish you!"

At the word ' _banish_ ', Mikey dropped the sticky note like it was on fire. _No thank you!_ What was this kid trying to banish them for, anyway? Didn't he hear him?

"We're _humans!_ We don't belong there!" Mikey sputtered.

"Yeah!" Renet exclaimed. "We're not yokai!"

"We're _human_ ," Casey repeated, his eyes glaring.

"Yokai, supernaturals, demons, call yourselves whatever," the kid said. "Maybe you're strong enough for my spells to be ineffective, but I know you're not human. Your grotesque head accessories are a huge giveaway."

The flower bud yokai on their heads had developed even further, Mikey noticed. He couldn't see his, but Casey's and Renet's were coming along great. They still slept, though, their eyes shut tight. They had no time to waste. They needed to be outside of Eastman when they bloomed, fulfilling Mother Tree's request of them.

"No, not _this_ again," Casey groaned.

On the other side of Dopey and Dumbo, the adult who hadn't spoken a word since they'd been summoned, pulled out a net that looked _extremely_ similar to the net that had captured Klunk.

"Good thinking, Grunt," the kid said, pulling out a net of his own. "We'll capture them and show them to Alopex and Spike. Maybe we'll get another chance to summon the fire lady."

The nets sparked and glowed, and Mikey heard his best friend gasping in horror, clearly thinking of Klunk.

"Everything's connected back to the Miyamoto clan," she whispered.

Casey groaned as the kid and Grunt advanced towards him. "What's _wrong_ with these clowns? This is just like with Alopex and Spike all over again!"

_Right, so that means… not very good for us,_ Mikey thought, stepping back and away from the slowly advancing hunters. They were running out of backwards walking space, and Mikey didn't want to find out if those nets would electrocute them. _Think, Mikey, think! Use those brain muscles! I wish the guys were here… Leo, Raph, and Donnie would know what to do!_

"You sure they're not human?" Dopey asked from behind the whole thing, breaking into Mikey's thoughts. "They look pretty human."

Dumbo snorted. "Yeah, and _I'm_ a supernatural."

Dopey gasped. "Are you?"

"No, you dope!"

Casey grit his teeth as the kid got close with the net. "Can't you guys see below the flower buds on our heads?"

"We can see beneath your _lies!_ " the kid said fiercely.

"It's not true," Renet said angrily. "And even if we were, what difference would it make? We didn't do anything to you! Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Because it's our job to keep Eastman safe from monsters only we can see," the kid said. "Not all humans can see you, but you can hurt all humans."

"I-I wouldn't!" Renet exclaimed, shocked. In a smaller voice, she added, "I wouldn't hurt _anyone_. I don't _want_ to hurt anyone."

"So you _have_ before!"

"No! I - what? No!"

"Leave her alone," Casey said, stepping in front of Renet to face off the kid.

Renet looked sad, guilt in her eyes. Mikey took her hand.

"He thinks we're yokai, Renet. He's _nuts_ ," he reminded her, knowing that she was thinking about her fight with her mom. "Don't take it personally."

"Right. Right," Renet whispered, nodding. She squeezed his hand, her fingers warming Mikey's. "They think we're yokai."

"Exactly," Mikey said, an idea dawning on him. Maybe they could use that to their advantage somehow?

Just then Grunt and the kid threw their nets at the same time, and Casey yelled, "SCATTER!"

Wasting no time, Mikey bolted away, pulling Renet with him just to dance out of Grunt's way.

The kid's eyes narrowed into slits as he struggled to untangle the nets. "So you've chosen death."

Mikey coughed back a laugh. This kid was like, _so_ dramatic.

The kid glared extra hard at him from the middle of the floor. "You've chosen _double death!_ "

"OMG, over there," Renet gasped, pointing to a corner that led to a hallway in the dim basement. "An exit!"

"Awesome!" Mikey said, but they couldn't make a break for it without Casey.

Mikey and Renet had to bolt apart, running in different directions as Dopey and Dumbo charged at them. Mikey could evade them easily. This was just like in gym class, when they played dodgeball, except now the balls were big bumbling hunters.

"My _grandma_ runs faster than you!" Casey jeered at Grunt, who just grunted, and then dove at him sideways, grabbing him. "Ow!"

Mikey's heart jumped into his throat at the sight of his friends in danger. He jumped on Grunt's back to make him lose his balance, but it didn't work. From behind him, he could hear Renet getting caught, too.

_Oh, great_ , Mikey thought glumly as Dopey pulled him off Grunt.

Grunt, Dumbo, and Dopey shuffled them all together, and the kid walked up to them, nets still a little tangled in his arms. They all stood in a circle around the three teens, to make sure they didn't run. This time, they were paying attention. Yelling 'scatter!' and scattering wouldn't work.

"Great. Time to take them to Alopex and Spike," the kid said, trying to tug the nets apart.

"Um, dude? We don't have the best track record with Alopex and Spike," Mikey protested. "What's your deal, anyway? Why did you join Miyamoto's clan? You're just a kid!"

The kid stopped fussing with the nets long enough to glare at him with his heterochromia eyes. "I'm going to be in high school next year. So shut your pie hole."

"Wow, really? So am I," Mikey said, blinking in surprise. "We really are the same age."

"Shut. Your. _Pie_. Hole."

The nets sparked and glowed dangerously. Mikey's mind flashed back to how Klunk had reacted, all stuck and unable to teleport away to safety.

_If we stay captured, we could potentially find Klunk again,_ Mikey thought. _But… what if that leads to a dead end?_ That, and he didn't want himself or his friends to be thrown into the yokai dimension. They'd _just_ gotten themselves out of there.

As Mikey's back pressed against Casey and Renet, he hoped they would catch on to his idea that had formed in his mind.

"Stop!" Mikey said loudly. He raised his hands. "Stop, or I'll use my yokai powers to make… uh… flowers grow out of your ears!"

The hunters around them stared, especially Dopey, who stood guard in front of Mikey. Fear laced his eyes.

The kid snorted. "You can't fool us. You're clearly not the powerful type of supernatural."

"No, it's true," Mikey lied. "I'll do it if you mess with me! You don't want to have vines growing in your brains, right?"

Mikey felt his friends shift, hearing his words.

"It's true! We don't want any trouble, but I'll flick you in the face if you get too close to us!" Renet blurted, catching onto Mikey's ruse. "And I'll totally make flowers grow out of… your nostrils! You'll be, like, totally sneezing flower petals for the rest of your life!"

Dopey tentatively raised his gloved hand to his covered nose in fear.

"That's _super_ unattractive, by the way," Mikey said. "You don't want to sneeze out gross, slimy giant petals when you're on a date with someone, right? They'll think it's huge boogers!"

Dumbo laughed. "If you're so _powerful_ , then why haven't you used this trick on us up till now?"

Mikey didn't know what to say. He felt silly for coming up with this plan, but then Casey swept in just in time, crossing his arms and standing with his feet slightly apart. Immediately, Mikey was glad that they had Casey there. He looked threatening enough for the three of them.

"It's not in our customs to attack until we're provoked," he said.

Dumbo's eyes were grinning as he crossed his arms over a puffed-out chest. "Oh, _really?_ "

"We probably look weak, but even small roses have thorns," Casey said, not letting up the bluff. "Us flower yokai are no exception. Let us leave, and we won't curse you for disturbing us."

At least Dopey looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot. Grunt just grunted, and Mikey wasn't sure what to make of that.

"W-well, we didn't _mean_ to summon you," Dopey said quietly.

"I think you'll look pretty if I turn your irises into _real_ irises," Renet piped up. "Would you prefer purple or yellow? Or should they like, match your eye color?"

Eyes widening, Dopey grew very, very still. "Please don't."

Later, Mikey was totally going to give Renet a high-five for that one. Dopey turned to Dumbo, and seemed to be saying something with his eyes.

"Seriously, Dopey? You buy that?" the kid interrupted, scoffing as he finally got the nets untangled. "Our daily training is important, regardless of what monster we face. That's what the boss wants us to learn. Miyamoto expects better of us."

"But -," Dopey tried to protest.

"But nothing, so leave the thinking to the rest of us and shut your pie hole," the kid said. He swaggered up to Mikey with a net. "Allow me to show you how a _real_ hunter captures pesky supernatural abnormalities."

Mikey raised his hands, another wild idea taking over his actions before he could really think about it. He wiggled his fingers, extending his arm out towards the leader.

"With the power vested in me, I give you the Flower Curse!" he yelled, and flicked the kid right between the eyes.

A crazy thing happened then.

No, flowers didn't start growing out of the kid's face — even though having superpowers all of a sudden would have been _so_ cool.

The kid hunter's irises didn't turn into a blue and green flower each, but by the way that he jumped back with a high-pitched squeak, so fearful that he landed on his butt, anyone would have thought so. He clawed at his face, all of his previous demeanor lost. Mikey's bluff had worked like a charm.

"It's working!" Dopey screamed, jumping back from Mikey by four feet. "I knew they were powerful! I knew it!"

"What? No!" Dumbo started, but the three teens didn't waste time.

Mikey, Casey, and Renet broke into a run. There were shouts behind them, but Mikey didn't stop. Casey and Renet ran ahead of him, turning down the hallway of the basement. It was a long stretch of hall that led into another part of the basement, with a shelving unit and various things Mikey didn't want to waste time looking at. His eyes were fixated on one thing only, and that was the elevator at the end of the hall.

"Get them! They're getting away! We can't let them!" Mikey heard the kid shouting behind him.

Casey smacked the elevator button the moment he reached it first, and luckily the doors opened right away. The three of them piled in, and as Renet jabbed the button that closed the doors, Mikey turned to see the hunters shouting and running after them, except Dopey.

Renet pressed the ground floor button before the hunters were anywhere close to the elevator. The doors shut just as they were a few feet away, and Mikey stumbled backwards into the wall of the elevator carriage, his knees shaking.

As the elevator creaked up, the three of them looked at each other, yokai buds on their heads, sweaty, and flushed from the adrenaline rush. Then they all broke into laughter — sweet, contagious laughter that Mikey couldn't stop. He laughed harder than he had all week. No, all _month_.

"I can't believe we just did that," Renet breathed, leaning her side against the elevator wall.

Mikey felt light-headed. "I can't believe that _worked_."

"Dude, you _crushed_ it!" Casey laughed. "Psyching them out like that, making them think we had powers… it was a genius move!"

Mikey grinned, ears getting hot all the same. But as he drank in the compliment, feeling pretty good, he glanced at his friends faces and he had to blink a few times. From where the yokai buds sat on their heads, Renet and Casey both had a gradient of earthy green taking over the pigment of their skin, fading the further down it reached, but it looked like it was spreading. It had reached their noses.

Mikey pointed at them both, jaw dropping a little. When they looked at him, he said, "You guys are… you're turning _green_."

Renet and Casey blinked, and they all looked at one another.

Casey pointed at Mikey. "You too, man."

Mikey blinked and went cross-eyed for a moment. He could make out a spot of green on his nose. He raised his fingers to feel his face. It felt a little grainy, like the texture of leaf would be. But harder, like it was still his skin.

"OMG, what's going on?" Renet asked, patting his cheeks. "Like, why are we turning _green?_ "

"Maybe because the yokai buds are almost ready to bloom?" Casey guessed. He pointed at their yokai buds. "I can see petals."

Mikey wanted to see how he looked, worry creeping into his chest. But he couldn't see his own yokai bud very well, beyond the leafs and vines. He really needed a mirror.

Heck, he needed a bathroom.

He also needed a _shower_. They smelled like grass and dirt, and Mikey was ready for some fruit-scented shampoo.

"We still have time to take them over the city border," Casey said.

Mikey nodded, feeling slightly numb. How long ago had they talked to Mother Tree? It felt like weeks ago.

"Maybe there's still time to go home, and then we can regroup," Casey suggested. "I mean, our families are probably asking questions about us."

Mikey's heart twisted at the thought of it. Besides him, he saw Renet's face tighten. Casey must have seen their faces too, because he sighed.

"Guys, don't worry. You'll give _me_ stress," Casey said. "Be more like me. I didn't talk to a tree, fall into a different dimension, _and_ almost get captured by bottom-rung clan members just to be afraid of going back home."

Renet nodded, taking a deep breath. "Who's afraid of anything? Not us."

"Definitely not us," Mikey lied, picturing Leo's wrath as the elevator doors slid open. "What time do you guys think it is now—"

Sunlight peered through the windows of the building's first floor. Mikey's words died in his mouth right away as he stepped out into an official-looking building with shiny tile floors and a tall ceiling with skylights. Walking out of the elevator area, Mikey saw that they were in a lobby of some kind, wooden doors leading to different offices on each hallway of every floor, which could all be seen from the center of the building.

"Um," Mikey blinked, looking up at the building they were in. It wasn't too big or grand, but it was just formal enough to strike a chord within him. He knew this building.

Various life-size statues of brave-looking people stood in the center of the lobby, a well-known collection of stone statues in Eastman. They all looked like they were hunting in the woods, arrows on their backs and nets in their hands. Their gazes were locked upwards, as if they were facing something huge, like a bear. It was kind of a statement piece of art, like a, "This is Eastman! We have trees and also we hunt animals", which wasn't cool, because Mikey _loved_ animals. Especially baby animals. He couldn't watch Bambi without tearing up. Or the Lion King. Or the first ten minutes of Tarzan.

But anyway.

Mikey had seen this collection of statues in the background of news articles online and on television. He'd seen this _building_ on television. He knew where they were — and from the looks on Casey and Renet's faces, he knew they knew, too.

"We're in…" Renet started, trailing off.

"Eastman City Hall," Mikey finished, dumbfounded.

"What were we doing in the basement of _city hall?_ " Casey asked aloud. He looked at them. "I didn't even know city hall had a basement."

Mikey turned to face the elevator in alarm. He'd forgotten that they were still being chased! But the elevators hadn't opened to the kid, Dopey, Dumbo, or Grunt, like he expected. The doors kept opening and closing on a small sparkly unicorn backpack that had been placed in the entrance, keeping the elevator chamber from leaving the first floor.

"I put it there so they can't use the elevator," Renet said with a little grin, following Mikey's gaze. "Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt to the rescue!"

Mikey grinned. They high-fived with gusto.

"Wait, another one! For the iris pun you made back there," Mikey said, and they high-fived again.

"That _was_ cool, wasn't it?" Renet laughed dramatically. "It just came to me!"

Casey walked across the city hall main floor, and Mikey and Renet followed him. For a moment, the three teens just took some time to catch their breath. Mikey wanted to lie down somewhere and take a nap, despite having done so at Tuli's. He looked around. Casey's car could take them back home to freshen up, and then they could take the quick drive out of Eastman.

_Or the other way around if too much time hasn't gone by,_ Mikey said, looking at the sky and frowning. It didn't _look_ like very much time had passed.

What time _was_ it?

"Oh, _bean burritos_ ," Renet said suddenly, and her voice sounded flat. "You guys, I figured it out."

Mikey turned from where he was standing in the lobby to Renet. She stood at a magazine stand, one of the copies in her hands. She showed them the picture of the Japanese man in a gray suit that was on the cover.

"Guys. _Miyamoto_ ," Renet said with disbelief in her voice. "Is _Yuuki Miyamoto._ I _knew_ his name sounded totally familiar. He's the mayor of Eastman. He's _our_ mayor!"

It took a full second for Mikey to process what Renet had just said.

And then another second for him and Casey to stare at her, then at each other.

Mikey didn't often _think_ about the mayor of Eastman, but he knew the mayor's name. And as the realization hit him finally, he felt _super_ silly. Leo went to college with the mayor's son — _Usagi_. And what was Usagi's last name? Miyamoto. These were obscure facts that lived in Mikey's brain, but hadn't come up out of their own accord.

Mikey looked at Renet. " _Whoa._ So this means that Miyamoto isn't just some clan leader. He's the leader of the whole city! Or… however local government works, I don't know."

Casey whistled incredulously. "How are we just _now_ realizing this?"

"Well, it's okay," Renet said, putting the magazine down. "It's not, like, _super_ common knowledge. But now we know, huh?"

"So, basically, the mayor of our city," Casey recapped, "… is the head of a clan that hunts and imprisons yokai?"

Mikey took a moment to digest that.

"This is weird," Mikey said. "It does sound like he's got some _major_ serious beef with yokai. I mean, just think of the way Tuli was treated! And Mother Tree is afraid of what he'll do to the new arrivals in her garden. Not to mention, his clan members are so…"

"Ready to jump to conclusions?" Renet suggested. "Desperately in need of improving their listening skills?"

"Terrible and bad?" Casey suggested dryly.

"Eh. All of that? But I don't want to assume the worst in them," Mikey admitted sheepishly. He sounded naive to his own ears, but it was true. "Every story has two sides, and all that."

Renet smiled. "Just like getting all sides of a story. Very wise, Master Mikey!"

Mikey stroked his imaginary beard playfully.

"Do you really think we'll get another side to this hot mess?" Casey asked dubiously. "The mayor's looking pretty bad from where I'm sitting. It feels like a whole conspiracy."

Renet sat down on a bench and swung her legs. "It _is_ a whole conspiracy! Most people don't know what yokai are, and they can't see them, either. So it's Mayor Miyamoto's best kept secret, probably."

"That, and the fact that he has a creepy basement where his clan members summon yokai for the sole reason of battling them," Casey agreed. "Anyway, we'd better get back to my car. If we're in city hall, the garden is close by."

Something was bothering Mikey, though. He wanted to know the time right now, and he couldn't wait until he got back to Casey's car. Something didn't feel right about the _sunlight_ coming in from city hall's skylights. If it was still day, what time was it? Shouldn't it have been _hours_ since they'd left? They'd fallen alseep at Tuli's, after all…

Mikey's eyes found the main clock that overhung the lobby. The short hand was on the six… wait, that wasn't right, right?

"Does it feel right that it's only been _two_ hours since we fell into the yokai dimension?" he asked his friends, interrupting their talks about which exit to take. "It feels like our time with Tuli was much longer than that."

At this, _both_ his friends straightened, staring at the clock.

"That can't be right," Renet said. "It _has_ been a _while_. Like… four hours, maybe? We had dinner, and took a nap."

"I would've guessed a solid six hours," Casey said slowly. "It was probably around three-thirty when we left Mr. Murakami's."

Either way, it would have been dark by now.

_But it's clearly not nighttime, so… what's the dealio?_ Mikey thought, tapping his chin.

He hurried up to a monitor on the lobby's main desk. City hall stood pretty deserted — understandable, on the weekend — so there was no one who stopped him when he peered over to see the time and date on the screensaver.

Then he froze.

His brain tried to make sense of it.

"What?" Renet asked at his silence, peering over his shoulder. Then _she_ froze, too.

Casey stared at them from the other side of the desk. "Guys, what is it?"

Quietly, Mikey turned the monitor around to show him. Casey's eyes widened, brows furrowing as he took in the date.

They'd left on _Saturday afternoon_ , and now… Mikey said the words aloud.

"It's Sunday evening."

Mikey waited a beat, expecting one of them to disagree with him, to tell him he'd read it wrong or there was some kind of misunderstanding. Sure, they'd been gone for a while, but he hadn't thought it had been this long.

"OMG. It's Mother's Day," Renet said, blinking fast. "We were in the yokai dimension for _more than twenty-four hours?_ How is that possible, even? We… was it that long? We slept for maybe an hour or two!"

Mikey pulled away from the desk as Casey stepped forward to stare at the monitor.

"Well, that's it," Casey muttered. "My parents are going to kill me, if I'm not dead already."

Mikey sank to the ground, lining his back against the circular border that framed the statues of Eastman City Hall.

He had been missing for a _whole night._

Renet started to pace, murmuring to herself. Casey drummed his fingers against the desk, before running them through his hair — and realizing that he couldn't, because of the yokai bud that slept on his head.

Mikey tried to breathe properly.

The last his brothers had seen of him was _yesterday_ at lunch.

"My mom's… my mom's definitely looking for me _now_ , even if she _was_ super mad at me," Renet said, panic in her eyes. "I never break curfew."

Mikey clenched his fists by his sides and tried to think back to how they'd lost track of time in the yokai dimension. With all the crazy things that they'd seen, it hadn't felt like long. But now that Mikey thought about it, it did make sense. Time had flown.

Nausea shot through him that had nothing to do with portal-sickness.

Mikey had never, _ever_ messed up this bad before.

His brothers already had enough on their plates with school and work and finances and their own lives — and here Mikey was, having gone _missing_.

Forget about being toast or grounded forever. Mikey deserved it all. He couldn't imagine the stress that was on Leo, Raph, and Donnie right now.

Distantly, Mikey could hear Casey groaning once more.

"Oh, no, my _car_ … the parking sign said…"

Renet gasped. "Oh _no!_ If they towed it — if they towed it, we can't drive anywhere!"

Mikey shakily stood up, pushing aside his nausea and guilt best he could. Forget Mother Tree's mission for now. He needed to get back home.

Mikey needed to get to Leo, to let him know he was fine. And that he was so, _so_ sorry that he'd run off and broken the rules.

There was a sudden squeak of a door and the sound of footsteps across the lobby.

Mikey whirled around in a panic towards the hallway to their left.

"Someone's coming!" Casey said, alarmed.

"Hide!" Renet whispered, which, to Mikey, sounded like a _great_ idea, all things considered.

Instinctively, Mikey and his friends dove behind the lobby's front desk, no questions asked. Squeezing underneath the wooden board, Casey right next to him and Renet across, Mikey could hear the footsteps growing louder and louder on the other side of the desk.

_Step. Step. Step._

Mikey held his breath as whoever it was passed the front desk. The footsteps slowed for a moment.

_Please don't find us,_ Mikey thought. Every human they'd met so far had been convinced they were yokai and had proceeded to chase them down.

_Step._

Then there was a crash of noise. Mikey flinched as the sound of two swinging doors were thrown open, followed by familiar voices of the hunters from the basement echoing in a different part of city hall. It was the kid, Dopey, Dumbo, and Grunt!

_But Mr. Moony Pineapple Butt's hogging the elevator!_ Mikey thought.

"I can't believe we had to take the stairs. Stupid elevator," came the unmistakable grumble of the kid. "I can't believe they got away. Oh, Spike! Hey!"

That meant the person in the hall with them was _Spike_. Mikey closed his eyes, hoping that they wouldn't be found.

"Spike," said the kid. "Have you seen three… uh… kids around?"

"Yes," Spike said, and Mikey winced. Oh, great. Spike would remember them from yesterday, wouldn't he. "They went outside."

He'd seen them go outside? Huh?

"Thanks, Spike," the kid said, sounding entirely different from his nasty self earlier. So the kid _could_ have manners! Nice to know.

Like a miracle, the hunters that had been chasing after them exited city hall, their backs to Mikey, Casey, and Renet, who were all still crouched under the desk. Mikey saw Renet's shoulders relax at the sight of the hunters leaving the building without looking back even once. Casey let out a breath, quietly. At least one problem was solved.

"You three can come out now," Spike said suddenly.

Mikey heard Casey inhale his breath of relief back in sharply. Renet's eyes went wide, darting to Mikey, who didn't dare move. None of them did, as the footsteps rounded the desk and the big guy from earlier — who had grabbed all three of them at once and thrown them through the banishing circle — bent down and made eye contact with them.

Mikey wanted to shrivel back.

"Not going to hurt you," Spike said. His voice was unexpectedly soft as he spoke to them. He even offered them half a smile. It was quite alarming, coming from someone as scary-looking as him.

And now that Mikey wasn't being squeezed to a pulp by the guy, he could get a good look at him. The tattoos on his shaved head made it seem like he was older than he was, but he was youngish. Like, maybe Raph's age?

Mikey, Casey, and Renet exchanged glances. Casey took the lead, crawling out from under the desk.

"Don't try anything," he said warningly to Spike. "I'm serious. We're not yokai, no matter what you think, and if you chuck us into the yokai dimension again, I'll —!"

Spike nodded quickly, making Casey fall short on delivering his threat, surprise on his face.

"Hey man, I believe you. I… had a hunch yesterday, too," Spike said with a shrug. Then he shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket and muttered, "I shouldn't have listened to Alopex. Sorry."

Mikey couldn't believe this was happening. His mind had so many questions, but he settled on a simple one first as he and Renet crawled out.

"You knew we were here?"

Spike nodded. "It's a good place to hide. I could see your shadows blocking the light, though."

Mikey glanced at where the desk met the floor, and saw the streak of light. Okay, that was smart.

"Why did you send those other hunters the wrong way?" Renet questioned.

Spike grinned. "Easier to do that than explain everything. They'll be distracted for a bit. Long enough for you to get out of here. Follow me."

"Wait, whoa, you're _helping_ us?" Casey asked, shocked.

Spike was already turning and walking down the other hallway. "Come on. Unless you don't want to get your cat friend?"

"Klunk!" Mikey and Renet gasped.

Spike raised his eyebrows at Casey. "Follow me."

Mikey didn't need to hesitate. He and Renet _loved_ Klunk, and no way were they going to leave without him! He started after the guy, Renet right next to him. Casey grumbled about not trusting Spike, but followed after them, too.

"So… Mayor Miyamoto, huh?" Mikey said after a moment in the long empty hallway they walked down. "Talk about a _cover-up._ "

Spike glanced over his shoulder at him. "You guys really are just regular kids."

"Regular-ish," Renet said. "We can see yokai."

"Right. _Yokai_ ," Spike told them. "We say 'supernaturals' instead."

"I've noticed that," Mikey piped up.

"Before I met Mikey, I used to call them 'spirits'," Renet said.

"Before I called them yokai, I thought they were demons or something," Mikey said. "The first one I saw popped out of the ground."

Spike nodded. "You can use whatever term you like to. We don't say 'yokai' anymore because Miyamoto hates them."

Behind Mikey, he heard Casey mutter, "No kidding" as they continued down the long hallway.

"He didn't use to," Spike said. "Before the attack, 'yokai' was the official term, because the Miyamoto family heritage is Japanese. But when Yuuki Miyamoto became the head after the attack, he forbade us from saying it because it brought back bad memories. Now what's left of our clan runs on his extremely strict rules. Sometimes they aren't fair."

_Attack?_ Mikey wondered what Spike was talking about. "What attack?"

"Really long story," was all Spike said as they came to a stop in front of a door at the end of the hallway. It was locked with a card scanner. Spike pulled out his wallet and scanned himself in.

The room Spike led them into was a small office, with a large wooden desk and cushioned chairs, a computer sitting peacefully in the corner. Bookshelves lined the walls, and a large window allowed the sun in. But in the center of the office, on the desk in a large cage, took Mikey's attention.

"KLUNK!" Mikey and Renet cried.

The cat-yokai locked in the cage was definitely Klunk, but he looked extremely distressed, his feathers poking out at various angles and his pupils were different sizes. His multiple tails behind him were all sticking straight up, indicating that he was alarmed to the _extreme_. His yellow eyes were wide in perfect circles as he stared at the four people in the room with him.

"Klunky," Mikey whispered. His heart longed to hug the poor, frightened cat-yokai. "What did you guys _do_ to him?"

"He can't teleport out of the cage — it's spelled. He doesn't like that," Spike said. "But we have to show dangerous yokai to Miyamoto. It's one of his rules. He wants to destroy them himself."

"OMG," Renet squeaked out. "Destroy? Like, _destroy_ destroy?"

"You can't do that!" Mikey exclaimed.

Spike sighed. "Miyamoto can. He does. He turns yokai to stone and then has their statues crushed to dust. I've seen it."

Okay, Mikey was _not_ okay with this. He and Renet looked at each other, horrified. Casey cleared his throat.

"Look, man. These kids love that yokai," he said. "Can't you talk to Alopex and your boss into letting him go?"

Mikey appreciated Casey vouching for Klunk, even though the cat-yokai had caused trouble in Mr. Murakami's restaurant more than once. Mikey met Renet's eyes, and she was giving him a look. He could tell that she was thinking the same thing he was — even if Spike couldn't do anything, they'd save Klunk anyway.

"I can't. I don't like hurting innocent supernaturals. But I can't change their minds," Spike muttered. There was a buzz from his pocket and he pulled it out and looked at it. His face seemed to tighten. "So… Alopex is walking in right now with Miyamoto. If you guys want to escape with your cat, now's your chance. Choice is yours."

" _What?_ " Mikey, Casey, and Renet asked in alarm.

"Alopex and _the_ Miyamoto are coming?" Mikey yelled. He wasn't ready for this — he didn't want to be turned to stone!

"To _this_ room?" Renet exclaimed. "As in _right now?_ "

"We gotta get out of here," Casey said, touching his yokai bud. "Miyamoto will roast our butts without even asking, if he's anything like his attack-first, question-later clan. Er. Sorry, Spike. No offense."

"None taken."

Renet grabbed at the cage door and undid the latch. "Hi, Klunky. It's us! You're safe now."

The cat-yokai just blinked at them, shivering.

"It's okay, Klunky," Mikey said. "You're okay. We're just going to get out of here before we're turned to stone, it'll be _so_ much fun."

Klunk hacked up a hairball.

"This is taking too long! Just grab the cage and let's go," Casey said.

"Don't take the cage. It'll spark suspicion that someone stole him," Spike said. "It's best if we make it look like he teleported away."

"Will you get in trouble?" Renet asked.

Spike shrugged. "No. Miyamoto's not harsh on us. He blames the supernaturals for everything."

"What a stand-up guy," Casey muttered sarcastically.

Mikey and Renet tried to get Klunk out of his cage. But Klunk had never listened to them before, and he certainly wasn't listening to them now.

"They're on their way," Spike said, checking his phone. "You guys should leave. Escape city hall. With or without the cat."

"No!" Renet protested, her voice hard and determined, surprising everyone. "I'm not leaving Klunk! I've seen yokai my whole life, but Klunk's the first one I ever became friends with, and I only met him like, a year and a half ago! Believe it or not, he's like, totally loyal and sweet!"

"Yeah," Mikey said, letting Klunk sniff his hand. "We can't leave a friend behind."

"Guys," Casey protested. "I'm not going to let you two be turned to _stone_."

He stepped past Mikey and reached into the cage to pull Klunk out himself. Klunk yowled, hissing at Casey and scratching him.

"Ow!" Casey yelled, pulling back. "Rude! If you don't like being unable to teleport, step out of the stupid cage!"

"Oh, no, let me see," Mikey said, reaching out to check Casey's wrists. But then he paused, and stared at his own fingertips. They were green! They spread down to his knuckles before fading into his normal skin color, but it was clear that it was spreading even faster.

Renet and Casey were staring at their hands, too.

"I hope you guys find a way to fix that," Spike commented. "Whatever Mother Tree did to you or asked of you came with risks."

Mikey felt a chill. What kind of risks? What was happening to them?

_What's going to happen if we don't get out of Eastman by sundown today, when the yokai buds bloom but they're still attached to our heads?_

Mikey looked at his friends. Renet continued trying to get Klunk out of the cage. Casey was rubbing his arms up and down and pacing in the small office. Mikey swallowed, trying to calm his racing heart. So many things were happening right now.

"What time does the sun set today?" he asked Spike.

Spike did a quick search on the internet. "8:02 PM."

Mikey checked the time on the clock in the office. It was almost seven. They had about an hour.

Okay.

He opened his mouth, but then there was a knock on the door that sent his stomach free falling down a pit of despair. His heart skipped so many beats that Mikey felt numb for a moment.

They were out of time.

* * *

"So this is the supernatural that can teleport," an older man's voice said. His voice was deep, but not as gruff as Spike's.

Mikey tried to imagine the mayor's face in real life as he and his friends hid behind the desk in the office. He tried to listen for any hints of that _I-hate-yokai_ energy that everyone else associated Yuuki Miyamoto with.

But… he kind of just sounded like an average man.

Renet and Casey sat on either side of him, breathing silently. Mikey felt himself tremble as Miyamoto's voice came closer. He didn't want that man to hurt Klunk! But in the end, Klunk hadn't come out of the cage.

_Come on, Klunk, why do you have to be like this?_ Mikey thought.

"He was a tough one, but we got him, boss," he could hear Alopex say from the doorway.

"And you don't know how it got through the barrier?"

"No, sir," Alopex said.

Miyamoto was silent for a moment. "That's a shame for the creature."

"You want us to hold it down as you turn it to stone?" Alopex asked, almost eager. "Just in case it —"

Klunk jumped.

A few things happened in that moment, and they happened extremely fast.

1\. Klunk landed in Mikey's lap.

2\. Renet and Casey grabbed onto Mikey out of sheer alarm.

3\. Alopex cursed — and didn't even censor herself!

4\. And then Klunk teleported.

Klunk teleported.

Klunk. TELEPORTED.

_With Mikey, Casey, and Renet!_

Mikey hardly had time to make sense of what was happening before the world slipped away once more. But he did hear Casey's begrudging whisper.

"Oh, _bleep._ "


	7. klunky teleportation on sunday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! Sorry for the delay, I just wanted to get this chapter right! It's the climax of the story, and I had a lot of fun writing it. New chapter, here we go! Enjoy!

Getting teleported felt like a blink, but more sudden, like they way Mikey closed his eyes whenever he sneezed. Around them, it felt as if the entire _world_ was sneezing the moment Klunk jumped down behind the desk and into Mikey's lap.

The world _blinked_ with a sudden pressure that gave Mikey's neck and shoulders goosebumps, and just as swiftly as everything disappeared, it all _reappeared_.

And just like that, they weren't in Eastman City Hall anymore.

Stars dotting his vision, Mikey took a moment to see where they were _now_ , and almost melted in relief at the sight of the menu signs and the familiar smell of the yummiest food place in the city.

_Mr. Murakami's!_

It was clean, empty, and the lights were out — they were closed for the day, Mikey realized.

It took Mikey all of zero-point-one seconds to process all of this, yet it wasn't until he was swooping downwards and crashing into a pile of chairs beneath him (Renet and Casey's squawks of surprise not far behind his) that he realized Klunk had landed them a few feet _above_ the floor: obviously not taking into account the fact that they didn't have wings (or the ability to land on their feet).

"OOOWWW!" groan-shouted Casey. His voice sounded muffled from whatever he'd face-planted into, but the irritation that seeped through was clear. "What the—?"

Mikey desperately tried to catch his breath, heart beating fast, thoughts racing, shock taking over. He smarted all over but stood up slowly to recover from the klutzy landing. His knees almost buckled.

 _How many times have we been yeeted already?_ Mikey wanted to know, feeling a flair of deep injustice as he rubbed his poor tush. _I'm FRAGILE, dude! My poor butt's cracked in two!_

But it was weird to be back at Mr. Murakami's restaurant. Last time he'd been here, Leo, Raph, and Donnie knew where he was. And _ouch_ , there it was — although there was the constant pressure in his chest, a weight that was threatening to squeeze his stomach up to his throat, Mikey had been trying not to think about it. And as he reminded himself again about how worried his brothers must have been, the stress felt overwhelming.

Now they had only one hour until the yokai buds on their heads bloomed.

And if they weren't able to get the yokai buds _off_ of their heads by then, wouldn't something bad happen? Something permanent?

Something Mother Tree hadn't had time to tell them?

Mikey didn't want to think about the _what if_ that was bugging him — he was already stressed out enough as it was! Mikey wasn't new to the whole 'stress' thing, but this was different. This felt bigger than a school assignment. It felt like something else was at stake if they didn't get the yokai buds out of Eastman by sundown.

Pushing the worries aside, Mikey looked around for his friends to make sure everyone was okay.

First, Klunk — the cat-yokai was sitting on the pile of chairs Mikey had fallen into. The cat-yokai mewed weakly once before lying down to rest, tails twitching uncomfortably and feathers looking ruffled. He looked a little sick, but at least he was uninjured.

Finding Casey next was easy. The older teen was loudly grumbling from the floor, over a bunch of cleaning supplies that he'd knocked over, rubbing at a slightly red nose. Looking insulted, he pointed at Klunk.

"Since _when_ can the cat _teleport people?_ Since _when?_ "

"He hasn't, not ever!" came Renet's voice, and Mikey turned to find her.

The girl's once-blond-but-now-alarmingly- _green_ pigtails peeking out from under her yokai bud were askew as she pushed herself off the floor to stand. She rubbed her arms and knees, making a face from how hard she'd landed on them, apparently.

When their gazes met, Mikey found his own feelings mirrored in her face: shock, amaze, and a rush of adrenaline from their grand escape from city hall.

And something evened out in Mikey's heart, lessening the pressure inside it for a swift moment. He felt his face spread into a grin as he watched Renet sink right back down, clearly having the same shaking knees as he did. Renet did a dramatic impression of a puddle on the clean floor of the restaurant in relief.

Mikey and Casey laughed, despite themselves.

"That was the _mayor_ ," she blurted, eyes wide. "That man just now who we heard."

Casey nodded grimly. "That was so messed up."

Mikey wasn't sure which part of it Casey was referring to. The fact that the mayor was going to turn Klunk into _stone?_ The fact that he apparently _could?_ The fact that Klunk had been caged and locked up and now was looking really nauseous?

Regardless, Mikey was super glad they hadn't seen Miyamoto face-to-face in that little office. Although he was sure there was a lot more to the whole story — what Spike had told them had been proof enough that the mayor wasn't just black-and-white _evil_. But at the same time, Mikey really didn't want to cross paths with some guy who turned yokai into stone just because he hated them.

Mikey winced, feeling shaken from the whole experience, and heavy with worry, needing to let his bros know that he was safe.

Or maybe that was just gas.

He'd had a _long_ day, okay? It had been more than twenty-four hours, _all_ of them probably needed a bathroom break!

Casey jerked a thumb over to the back of the restaurant. "There's a phone. I gotta tell my folks that I'm alive and not dead, and hope they don't kill me."

Renet paled.

"I'm in so much trouble," she muttered. "Grounded for the entire year. No, decade."

Mikey wanted to make a joke, too, but he couldn't. He didn't care if he was grounded. He just wanted to go home.

_But._

"Dudes, I really hate to be _that_ guy, but I don't think we should go home first. There's only one hour until the sun goes down."

Casey and Renet looked at him in surprise.

Mikey hated himself for saying it, too. But he went on, "The yokai buds will bloom at sundown, and I don't think it's a good idea to keep them on our heads when they do. They have to sort of find a place to plug their roots and stuff into the earth and whatever, remember the weird yokai flower science? Plus, we're turning _green_ , dudes. More, I mean."

It was the truth. His friends' faces had been only half green from their foreheads to their noses, but now, even in the restaurant where the only light source was the daylight through the windows, Mikey could see that Renet and Casey's faces were almost completely overtaken by an unmistakable deep green that matched the color of the yokai buds themselves.

"We don't have a car, man," Casey said shortly. "We don't even have our phones to call an Uber. We're gonna have to get a ride from our folks."

Mikey wasn't trying to be pessimistic on purpose, but he had no idea what he was supposed to say when he saw his brothers. He wanted time to properly apologize, not apologize and then ask them to drive him somewhere.

He didn't want to be an _even bigger_ burden on them like that.

Man, what a mess.

But before he could even start to try to explain that to Casey, his older friend was already pulling a red telephone off the wall near the restrooms, his fingers punching in a number. A faint ringing could be heard from the handset.

"Casey's right, Mikey," Renet said in a low voice. "We need extra help."

"Hello?" spoke Casey into the receiver. "Hey Mom, it's me, I'm calling from the restaurant. I'm sorry for skipping curfew, but I'm fine — it's a really long story — um, yeah? Mom? Mom," Casey frowned, his eyes looking at Mikey and Renet before taking the phone away from his ear, staring at it like he didn't know what it was. He put it back to his ear, the frown not disappearing from his forehead. "Mom, can you hear me? No, wait. Aaaaand she hung up."

With a sigh, Casey set the phone back on the receiver hanging on the wall before pulling it out and redialing.

"What happened?" Renet asked.

"The sound wasn't going through. I could hear her, but she couldn't hear me. Is this thing on mute?" Casey asked, squinting at the phone receiver.

"Uh, let me see," Renet said, stepping forward to look at the receiver.

Mikey moved aside pretty quickly for good measure. In the Hamato household, Donnie's specialty was to fix things, but Mikey was the one who had a reputation for accidentally breaking them in the first place.

As Renet tried to figure out why the phone wasn't working, Mikey turned around and sank down to sit next to Klunk, who had sat up from his lying position, pupils still dilated unevenly in both eyes — which was kind of concerning. Mikey reached his hands out to the cat-yokai. Klunk hissed, clearly discomforted, and Mikey froze.

"Aw, sorry, buddy," he said. "I just thought you might need a hug."

Mikey dropped his arms, and Klunk seemed to consider him. Just when Mikey thought Klunk was going to turn away, the cat-yokai surprised him, stepping gingerly onto Mikey's thighs. He looked uncomfortable still, but it was a clear invitation.

Mikey giggled. "It's always the lap, huh?"

Klunk let out a huff noise through his nostrils at that, and started to purr when Mikey started to pet him, brushing down the feathers that were sticking up. Klunk pressed into Mikey's chest in a cuddle, and Mikey could feel the warmth of the cat-yokai. He bent his knees up a little, scooping the cat-yokai into a firmer hug, burying his face into the fur and the feathers, Klunk's warm breath grounding him and making him feel calm.

Leo and Raph and Donnie were going to hate him forever for being the worst little brother in the universe, but at least right now Mikey was enveloped in a warm Klunk hug. He'd _missed_ Klunk so much.

"Sorry for today, Klunk," Mikey said to the cat-yokai in a whisper low enough so Renet and Casey couldn't hear him. "I'll bet getting tossed in a cage _wasn't_ a super fun time for you, huh."

Klunk purred.

Mikey sighed, face still buried in Klunk. "It's my fault you got mixed into this. I'm a trouble magnet for everyone. Maybe Leo had the right idea, making me stay away from you."

In response, Klunk licked the inside of his ear affectionately and Mikey squealed, giggles bursting out of him.

"You're a good kitty," Mikey said, kissing Klunk on the nose. "I'll give you lots of candy when this whole thing is over, as an apology _and_ a thank-you."

Klunk's multiple tails — one day Mikey was going to actually count how many he had — stuck up all at once just then, tickling the boy's nose. Mikey almost laughed, but froze when he saw that Klunk was trembling in a weird way. The cat-yokai pulled away from him, a strange expression overtaking his face.

"Um," Mikey said, letting the cat-yokai out of his grasp so he could hop down to the floor. "Klunky?"

"This phone isn't working," said Casey, hanging up the phone for maybe the sixth time, looking tired. "My mom thinks she's getting pranked."

"Let's, like, just use a different phone," Renet said simply. "I don't know what's wrong with this one."

Then she looked at Klunk, who sat on the floor in the middle of all of them, and sucked in a breath.

Not only were Klunk's hackles raised, tails in the air, but there was a new look in the cat-yokai's eyes that said, _hairball incoming._ And just as Mikey had guessed, Klunk hacked another one up. It rolled on the floor and landed near Mikey's foot.

Casey made a face. "Gross."

" _You_ try teleporting three people across the city," Renet said defensively, hands lifting to rest on her hips. "See how you feel then."

Casey nodded, considering it. "Fair."

"Actually, I don't know if it's that, or if he's just jittery and scared because of Alopex," Renet said softly. "He's so shaken up. Maybe he just wanted all of us to leave that place together, and that's why he teleported all of us. I'll give him a nice bath when we get home."

Klunk trembled, and Mikey thought back to how Alopex had rudely grabbed him and stuffed him away in that sparking anti-yokai net. He bent down, and the cat-yokai allowed Mikey to pick him up like a baby. Renet cooed at him, reaching over to hold one of Klunk's paws.

Casey snorted. "While you kids have this little moment, I'm going to look for another phone."

Klunk let out a low grumble and blinked tearfully before looking over at Renet.

"Uh-oh."

Mikey looked up at her, alarmed at her tone. Even Casey paused.

"That's like… either his _constipation_ face or his _diarrhea_ face," she informed them.

Casey backed off, groaning painfully. "Seriously?"

"I'm just letting you guys know!"

"Does yokai poop stain floors?" Mikey asked, because that seemed like the most important question.

"He usually goes outside, like a gentleman."

"Gross," Casey said, looking freaked out.

Klunk continued to shiver. Renet gasped, as if realizing something, and grabbed Casey's arm with her right hand and Klunk's paw still in her left.

Without a warning, the world blinked.

Klunk had teleported them again.

* * *

_Oh, no._

When the world came back from its blink, Mikey landed on a carpeted floor, Klunk still in his arms. He froze to take in the new setting as it took form around them, his shoes sinking into carpet.

They were all standing in a hallway of someone's house. The walls were painted mahogany.

Renet let out a squeak. "OMG."

"Wha-? Again?" gasped Casey. "Klunk, man, c'mon!"

Klunk looked miserable in Mikey's arms, somehow shaking and stiff at the same time.

_Poor Klunk. But where did he take us this time?_

The hallway was dark and windowless but the lights and voices came from somewhere nearby, around the corner.

"It's going to be okay," a man's voice was saying. "Just breathe. The police are looking for her."

"She…" Mikey heard a woman's voice, thick with emotion. "She's…"

Renet broke into a run down the hallway.

"Mom! I'm okay!" she cried.

"Wait, this is Renet's place?" Casey asked.

Mikey felt his heart jump into his throat. _Of course._ This wasn't just someone's house. It was _Renet's_.

He felt hope. Klunk had teleported them right into Renet's house. That was good. They had Renet's mom to help them now!

"Mom!" Renet yelled, turning the corner and disappearing, her voice still loud. "Mom, I'm okay! I'm _home!_ "

Mikey and Casey hurried after Renet.

Around the corner was the living room, with glossy dark wood shelves full of thick books against the mahogany wall, framing the TV. Tan couches bordered the living room area, a well-used coffee table at the center. A woman with Renet's same sandy blond hair but in a pixie cut was sitting on the far couch, wearing a rumpled t-shirt and jeans. Her head was lowered into her hands, looking as if the world had dropped itself on her shoulders. Her cell phone, faced up, sat on the coffee table. When Ms. Tilley lifted her head, Mikey saw that her eyes were red and swollen, and had dark circles underneath them.

But instead of jumping up at the sight of her daughter standing behind the couch, Ms. Tilley just stared blankly through her.

_Huh?_

Had time frozen around them? But the man sitting next to Ms. Tilley — Renet's dad, maybe? — was moving, rubbing her forearm lightly. He had sharp, piercing features: a long pointed nose, an angular jaw, and eyes that seemed to poke into Mikey when they made eye contact.

Except… not really. The man wasn't actually looking at him, Mikey realized after a moment. The man's eyes drifted away with no recognition. It was almost as if this man, and Renet's mom couldn't _see_ them.

"Mom," Renet breathed out, running up to Ms. Tilley and throwing her green arms around her. Something looked off, though. Like Renet's weight was nonexistent, like her arms around her mother were feather-light and unable to be felt. Ms. Tilley didn't shift at all by the hug, wasn't thrown back by the force of it like Mikey had been expecting.

Renet pulled away from her mother, frowning as if she'd felt something off about the sensation, too. Mikey felt prickly and panicked all of a sudden.

" _Breathe_ , Rose. Calm down and just take deep breaths," the man was saying. "You don't have any idea where she could have gone off to?"

Ms. Tilley shook her head. "Mr. Murakami said they went to the garden, which is, you know, she told me once that she liked that place, but then… from there… she wouldn't run away. Renet's a good girl. She's my good girl."

"Mom, I'm right here," Renet tried again, raising her voice, looking appropriately freaked out now. "Momma?"

Renet grabbed her mother's hand and tried to shake it, but from where Mikey stood, it looked like Ms. Tilley's hand was too heavy for Renet to even budge.

"Okay, whoa. What's going on?" Casey asked.

"I don't know!" Renet cried, her voice high and panicked. "It's like, like, _I don't know_ , I barely have any impact on her! Like I'm made of fluff! She can't see or hear or feel me!"

Mikey and Casey looked at each other, frowns on their faces. Renet turned to the man.

"Simon? Can _you_ see me?"

The man named Simon — not Renet's dad, apparently — did not answer, only continuing to rub Ms. Tilley's arm. Renet's face twisted into one of despair.

"They can't see us," Mikey said in stricken realization, his own voice faint to his ears.

"That's... also messed up," Casey muttered.

Mikey looked at his friends. Then he looked down at himself. They all looked like green asparaguses wearing clothes. Lifting one hand to his own face, Mikey could feel that his cheeks were stiffer, as if even the _texture_ had changed.

It was almost as if… they were turning into plants themselves.

 _Yokai_ plants.

It all made sense, finally, what was happening to them.

 _HOLY MACARONI._ Mikey felt his brain slamming on all brakes, halting everything, all the questions. The only thing running through his head was the thing he'd just figured out, that he'd been getting closer to figuring out this whole time but he hadn't been able to until now. His stomach churned. He felt a little lightheaded as he held Klunk in his arms.

"So that's what Mother Tree meant by 'risk'," Mikey whispered.

Renet and Casey's heads swiveled to him. Shaking off his fear, he just blurted it out.

"We're turning into yokai."

His words were met with a sudden, silencing disbelief from his friends. The only sound in Renet's living room was Ms. Tilley's sniffles.

Renet's jaw dropped in realization, her eyes going from Mikey to the ground, to her mother, like she was thinking hard. Casey's eyebrows furrowed together.

"But that's impossible," he protested. "We're humans! We're kids!"

His argument against Mikey's declaration fell flat in the nearly quiet room, and Casey seemed to realize it, looking horrified.

In a whisper, Renet asked, "That's why they can't sense us at all? That's why my mom doesn't know I'm standing right in front of her?"

Mikey gulped. "Yeah. I think so."

Casey stared at him, shaking his head slowly, like he wanted to deny it. Renet stood up, her eyes not leaving her mother. Mikey's legs felt like twigs. He wondered how he was still standing.

"That's _impossible_ ," Casey repeated. "Everyone at city hall could see us!"

"They were yokai hunters," Renet reasoned carefully. "It, like, makes sense that _they_ could see us. Besides, we weren't as green before."

"We're not yokai," Casey insisted, but now he was staring at his green hands. His voice wavered. "The heck? I don't want to be a yokai!"

Renet turned to Mikey, her face set in determination. Even her eyes were an unnatural shade of green now, not their usual warm brown, and Mikey knew that his blue eyes were probably the same way.

"It's the yokai buds that are doing this to us, isn't it? Tuli said they were sapping our energy."

Renet's logical, steady voice reminded Mikey of Donnie, and it calmed him down a lot.

"Yeah," he said, his voice steadier than he felt. "I didn't know _this_ would happen, though."

She shook her head. "None of us did. Mother Tree didn't _tell_ us this would happen."

Yeah, and in hindsight, this would have been a _really_ good thing to know before they'd agreed to help the tree-yokai. But then Alopex had appeared… and… too much had happened.

Casey's face contorted into a glare, however.

" _She knew that this would happen to us and didn't tell us?_ " he shouted, snapping. "She _didn't_ even— _wow_. Okay, wow. Great. Just _great_. MT didn't even — who does she think she is? We're kids! We're people with _lives!_ And she wanted to put it all at risk for herself? She's — she's basically _evil!_ "

Mikey started to panic again. He wanted to be angry, too. But blaming Mother Tree wouldn't make him feel better. He didn't even _blame_ her, not really. He just blamed himself. A nasty feeling curled up in Mikey's chest, along with the panic and guilt that was already residing there.

This was his fault, this was his fault, _this was his fault._

_I pulled my friends into this, and now we're never gonna be able to be regular kids again. We're going to be yokai — and living conditions for yokai sort of suck, if today was any hint of what it's like! Plus, NONE of us can be with our families again, and the yokai dimension DOESN'T EVEN HAVE VANILLA OR CHOCOLATE —_

"Mikey." Renet's voice brought him back. She'd walked over to him and Casey, away from her mother and the man named Simon. Mikey met her gaze. "We just have to get past the barrier that surrounds the city by sunset, and then we'll be back to normal, right?"

Mikey wanted to hug her, if he wasn't already hugging Klunk for emotional support. Even though Renet should have been the one freaking out instead of Mikey, here she was, using her brain and trying to think of a solution.

"Right," Mikey said, trying to think of a plan, but nothing was coming up. His thoughts were too scattered and he wasn't sure where to start.

"We need a car," Casey pointed out. "We need someone to give us a ride, but it's pointless if no one can see us."

"We could ask Spike?" Renet suggested.

"Maybe," Mikey said, even though he wasn't sure how they could make it through city hall in one piece again.

"Sure, let's just get Klunk to zap us right in front of Spike's face," Casey said sarcastically. "Because we know how well he listens."

"Sorry," Renet said quickly. "It was just an idea."

Klunk turned his head and hacked up a hairball. It was smaller this time.

Casey sighed, rubbing his face. "No, I'm being rude. Sorry. You're right. Spike's the only guy who might be able to help us."

"Or… what if Klunk just teleported us out of the city directly?" Renet suggested.

"Can he do that?" Mikey asked, perking up.

Renet shrugged. "I don't know. Klunky?"

They all looked at Klunk. Klunk gazed back.

Renet's eyebrows lifted, and she and Casey each reached out to place a hand on Mikey's shoulders — a way to keep all of them together, just in case. Mikey held his breath.

Nothing happened. The world didn't blink.

"Oh," Mikey said after a second. "I thought he was teleporting us aga—"

They world blinked.

_Oh, okay, cool._

* * *

Mikey wasn't sure what to expect this time, but his _bedroom_ was the last place he'd thought they'd end up. His room was in its usual disarray, his bed messily made from Saturday morning. When Mikey realized where they were, he fell on top of his blankets.

"Home sweet home, home sweet home, home sweet home!" Mikey sighed, brightening up. "I've been wanting to be back here since _forever!_ Thanks, Klunk!"

Klunk mewed, muffled by Mikey's hug.

"We're at _your_ place now?" Casey asked in surprise, standing at the foot of Mikey's bed. "That's not outside the city."

"Klunk's teleported here before, so maybe that's why?" Renet piped up with an embarrassed smile, looking a little pink in the face. "Um, sorry for intruding!"

Mikey laughed. "No intrusion. It's not where we need to be, but welcome to my room, you guys."

It got his friends to crack a smile. Mikey sat up, letting his smile fall.

It was kind of hard to forget their situation, even for a moment, when they all looked like they'd been painted shades of green. Even if Mikey _really_ wished he could stay in his room, crawl under the blanket covers, or better yet, on the living room sofa nestled under a blanket so he could still hear his brothers talking and laughing and arguing with each other.

Mikey shot up from his bed, letting Klunk hop out of his arms and take his place on the pillow.

"Hold up! I gotta see the guys."

Then he dashed out of his room without waiting for a response from his friends.

The apartment seemed oddly quiet. Mikey burst into the living room, looking around wildly. He frowned. None of his brothers were there, watching TV, or having dinner. The lights were off, and Mikey glanced back. They hadn't gone to sleep in their rooms, had they?

Wait, the kitchen! Mikey could see a light on, around the corner.

This wasn't a good idea, not when he was turning into a yokai and his brothers wouldn't even be able to see him, but he had to. He needed to see who was home. Mikey's feet moved before he could talk himself out of it.

He ran into the kitchen, and the moment he saw his brother, he screeched to a full stop.

Leo stood leaning against the counter, cell phone in hand, staring across the kitchen at the fridge in the same way Mikey had seen Ms. Tilley staring blankly through Renet. His black hair was uncombed, and his lips were pressed together in a flat line. His jaw was set, looking like a tightly wound-up spring.

The oldest Hamato brother looked like he hadn't slept a wink in the past twenty-four hours.

Too many things ran through Mikey's head to sort through; a overwhelming sensation of _wow this was a mistake_ flooding through him immediately. Leo was always moving, usually. Always busy. And to see him here, standing still… Mikey was pretty sure he'd never made Leo this mad before.

"Leo?" Mikey called out nervously.

If there was any doubt before that they were turning into yokai, it went away when Leo didn't look Mikey's way. Never in a million years would Leo ever ignore Mikey — not even if they were fighting.

Mikey wanted to reach over to hug Leo, but he didn't feel like he deserved a hug for breaking the rules. And besides, Leo wouldn't even know that he was there, so he wouldn't be able to hug him back.

 _I don't think he's in the hugging mood, anyway,_ Mikey thought nervously, biting his lower lip as he stared at his oldest brother.

Tears almost spilled from Mikey's eyes, but he held himself together. On the counter, he spotted his own phone, and sniffed, surprised.

_Wait, my phone? How did Leo find it? I forgot it in Casey's car._

Leo's phone buzzed in his hand, and Mikey watched as his older brother answered it at the speed of light.

"Did you find him?" Leo asked, his voice hard.

Someone answered, making Leo's face fall, his dark blue eyes clouding over.

"No, he's not here, he didn't turn up," Leo responded. "Did the police find anything in the garden? Another clue, anything?"

The police were involved? _YIKES._ Mikey winced.

"Twizzlers, okay," Leo said incredulously, and started to pace in the kitchen. "Maybe there's a trail. Maybe Mikey left some kind of hint."

Mikey smacked himself in the face. He hadn't even thought to leave a trail for someone to find them.

"Okay, then," Leo was saying. "Keep looking. He's somewhere, Raph. He didn't just disappear."

 _Except I sort of did,_ Mikey thought.

Leo ended the call, and stared at the black screen for a few moments.

"I'm okay, Leo, just… just…," Mikey stammered, his voice cracking. If they turned into yokai forever, _nothing_ would be okay!

Mikey reached for his phone and attempted to pick it up. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? If Leo saw Mikey's phone floating in midair, maybe they could communicate!

Except… Mikey couldn't move his phone. He groaned in frustration as his fingers had no effect on the phone.

"What? Why? We could press elevator buttons just a couple hours ago!" Mikey exclaimed, shocked. Now they couldn't even touch _regular items?_

Mikey tried again, but even though his fingers could close over his phone, he couldn't lift it up. He couldn't even turn it on. He couldn't even press the _button_ to wake up the screen!

"Mikey!" called Renet from down the hall. "Casey's using your phone charger to charge his phone! We have an idea!"

Throwing a wide-eyed look at his phone, Mikey darted around the kitchen corner and saw that Renet was in the hallway outside of his room, Klunk resting at her feet. He ran back to her, glancing into his bedroom to see Casey sitting cross-legged on the floor right next to the doorway, Mikey's cell phone charger tip plugged into Casey's phone and the wall.

"I didn't ask, but thanks for letting me borrow it," Casey said to him.

"Awesome!" Mikey cheered. "So what's the new plan?"

Renet cleared her throat. "So Klunk's teleporting us to places, but he's only going places that he's familiar with. Getting him to go somewhere outside of Eastman is… unlikely?"

"Also he doesn't seem to be listening to us," Casey added. "As per usual."

"So the plan is to get into someone's car. Your car, maybe?" Renet suggested. "If we can text one of your brothers, will he drive us out of the city?"

Mikey gasped at the genius of the plan. "You gotta text my brother Leo."

"Okay, no problem," Casey said, his phone in hand.

"Wait, but how are you doing that?" Mikey asked out of curiosity. "I couldn't pick up my phone that was on the counter."

"I don't know," Casey said honestly. "I mean, I don't have a problem with my phone, but your charger was really hard to budge."

That was weird. Even Klunk could move things around — he had been able to knock things over in Mr. Murakami's restaurant. But then again, Klunk was a pretty strong yokai if he'd managed to get through Eastman's yokai barrier in the first place.

_Different yokai, different rules, I guess?_

Renet raised her hand, like they were in class. "OMG, I think I get it! If it was _on_ us when we started turning into yokai, it's part of the whole, um, _turning-into-yokai_ thing, and regular people can't see it. Like our clothes. Or, like, Casey's cell phone. So we can move those things easily. But if it _wasn't_ on us, like your cell phone, Mikey, then it _isn't_ part of the turning-into-yokai thing. And we _can't_ move it."

Mikey grinned. "Congrats, Casey. Your phone is a yokai with us."

Casey glanced at his phone balanced on his thigh, charging and slowly turning back on. "Good to know that my phone isn't just floating to someone."

"The end of the charger probably is, though," Mikey reasoned. "Bet we could freak some people out."

"I would laugh if _I_ wasn't freaked out," Casey said. "What's your brother's number?"

Mikey told him, and Casey was already making it a contact on his phone to message.

"Text him and tell him… well."

Mikey paused and tried to imagine what the text would say. _Hey, Leo! This is Casey. Mikey, Renet, and I have been turned into yokai and we need to get out of Eastman in the next_ — Mikey glanced at the clock on his nightstand — _twenty minutes. We're going to be getting into the car, too, so if you could just open the back doors for us to get in, that would be great._

"Tell him that we're on the city border," Renet said. "We'll try to get him to go there, and we'll get into the car before he takes off. That'll be good enough explanation for now, right?"

"The entire story _is_ kinda ridiculous to explain," Casey agreed.

Mikey let Casey text Leo. In the next moment, they could hear the front door suddenly burst open. Mikey gasped when he heard Donnie's voice.

"Leo, you — any news?"

Mikey's eyes widened. "I gotta go see."

He darted down the hall again, and saw Donnie standing in the front door. He threw his arms around Donnie, hugging his older brother with all he had, willing to be felt. Donnie was always the easiest brother to talk to if Mikey was ever in trouble, after all.

But Donnie just walked over to Leo as if there _wasn't_ a thirteen-year-old kid hanging off his shoulders, out of breath from the sudden run into the apartment. Mikey slid off his brother, sinking against the wall, feeling miserable.

Leo shook his head. "He's hasn't… Raph's still searching. You?"

"I checked with Casey Jones's parents," Donnie said, frowning behind his glasses. "They, uh, haven't gotten any new news, either."

Mikey noticed how Donnie's shirt was inside-out, hair ruffled worse than usual. Donnie swayed slightly in the spot he was standing, and Leo's hands were then immediately on his upper arms were to steady him.

"Easy there. Get some rest," Leo instructed.

Donnie pushed Leo's arms off. "No way. Caffeinate me and I'll be fine. _You_ rest."

"As if," Leo said softly, smiling for a full half second before it slipped off.

Mikey watched Donnie make a move towards the coffee machine, pulling out a mug.

"Raph and Mona are doing a city sweep together," Donnie said, and that surprised Mikey. He was pretty sure nothing was going to stop surprising him tonight. "Mona's on her bike doing rounds and Raph's interrogating the neighborhood."

"How's Ms. Tilley doing?" Leo asked.

"Renet hasn't shown up, either. I called and she said all that the police have found for her is Renet's cell phone," Donnie said, getting his coffee made in the machine. "And on it, some pictures of flowers from the garden. Casey's in one of them. Mikey's not in any pictures, but… Mr. Murakami said they all left together."

Leo nodded. "And there's the address that Mikey put in his phone. He was definitely at that garden."

"So then how did he just… disappear?" Donnie asked, and by the tone of his voice, Mikey could tell that this question had been asked over and over again. "He wouldn't have gotten into a stranger's car."

"No way," Leo said. "Unless he trusted them."

"He trusts a lot of people," Donnie muttered.

Mikey was sure listening to this conversation was a new form of torture no one had discovered before. Listening to your family stress and talk about the search party they had going on for you while you turned into an invisible plant person was a new experience for him. He buried his head in his hands.

"Mikey, you okay?" Renet whispered, coming up besides him nervously.

Mikey shook his head and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "Did Casey text Leo?"

Renet winced. "Apparently, yokai phones don't have good reception. He's trying."

Another plan down the drain. Mikey tried not to panic. They still had time.

"Think like Mikey, Donnie," Leo was saying.

Donnie closed his eyes and rubbed them. "If I were Mikey… I'd do things my own way. I'd get curious. I'd get lost. I'd… wander off the path and find something new."

Donnie opened his eyes and looked at Leo. Leo looked at Donnie.

Mikey stared at both of them. _Eh,_ they were as close as they could get. How were they to know that Mikey had heard Mother Tree's voice in his head, thanks to the wrens —

Oh, the wrens!

Mother Tree!

"We have to go back there, search the garden again," Leo said, grabbing his keys from the corner of the kitchen counter. "We must have missed something. There's got to be more."

"They're going back to the garden?" Renet cried. "Oh, no!"

"No, it's fine. It's good! Let's go with them and just ask Mother Tree to take off the enchantment!" Mikey exclaimed, standing up. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. "I'm sure she didn't want this for us."

Renet drew in her breath. "Okay. Okay, not a bad plan."

But then Leo and Donnie were already slipping out of the apartment, the door slamming shut behind them. Even if Mikey had wanted to try to follow, there was no way he was getting the door open. He and Renet exchanged glances before running back down the hall to Casey.

"It's taking forever to send," Casey groaned. "Yokai wi-fi sucks."

"It's fine," Mikey said, leaning down near Klunk and picking him up. The cat-yokai purred, looking a lot better. His pupils were back to the same size, and his tails were relaxed, no longer in danger mode. "Klunk just needs to get us to the botanical garden. Can you do that, buddy?"

Klunk mewed, which could have meant anything. But Mikey was optimistic.

"Mikey's brothers left already. We're asking Mother Tree to call this whole thing off," Renet told Casey. "It's too dangerous."

Casey's eyes widened, clearly having not considered that option. Then he frowned. "Wait. It's dangerous going _back_ to her. What if she does something worse?"

"She didn't do this to us on purpose," Mikey said.

"Uh, no, _that's_ completely false."

"All I'm saying is that she didn't expect this to happen to us! She just wanted us to make a short, eleven-minute trip," Mikey justified. "I think Mother Tree will be understanding about the fact that we got kidnapped by yokai hunters and tossed into another dimension and then captured _again_ by yokai hunters and almost turned into stone _by the mayor!_ So unless you have a better idea, this is the best shot we have!"

Mikey said in all in one breath, heart racing. He glanced at his nightstand clock to check the time. 7:54 PM. They only had eight minutes until the yokai buds on their heads bloomed, turning them into yokai for good!

Casey groaned, yielding.

"Fine! Fine! Let's go back to MT and hope she doesn't do anything terrible. But good luck getting Klunk to do anything _you_ want, because so far he hasn't teleported us to the right spot —"

The world blinked, right on cue.

They were teleporting once again.

* * *

The world shifted around them. Now that Klunk looked like he felt better, he teleported all three of them without any of them needing to be holding onto each other. Fresh air hit Mikey in the face, and his instinct was to breath as much of it in as he could. The air was humid in the way spring made things humid, but Mikey had never enjoyed the humid air of their dimension more than he was right now. Above him, the sky was beginning to set in different colors. And when he looked around, he recognized where they were from the trees and foliage that surrounded them: Eastman Botanical Garden.

Specifically, _exactly_ where they'd been at before being caught by Spike and Klunk appeared.

"Whoa," Renet breathed, looking down.

Mikey followed her gaze, and saw that the banishing circle Alopex had spray-painted into the grass was still there. Even though it was washed away quite a bit because of the rainstorm yesterday (and probably didn't work), all of them stepped away from the circle immediately, because _yikes_ , they weren't risking another visit to the pocket dimension again.

"Klunk did it!" Mikey said in awe, staring at the cat-yokai who'd landed them on the grass nicely. Klunk himself was still in the air, using his wings to make a graceful landing down by Renet.

"Good boy," Renet complimented him.

"About time," Casey said, but he was grinning, too.

"No time to waste," Mikey said, feeling brave now that they had a new plan. "Which way is Mother Tree?"

Renet pointed across the garden. "This way, follow me!"

The three teenagers and Klunk all ran together off the path, onto the grass, then through the trees. Mikey felt more agile than normal as he weaved around the branches and the bushes. Maybe it was the effects of being a plant yokai?

 _I am chlorophyll-ing pretty good,_ Mikey thought, glancing down at his green hands.

If he could make bad plant jokes, things were looking up.

Mikey heard the wrens before he saw them. The small dark birds appeared, and darted close to the trio of teens, fluttering fast and chirping loudly through the trees. Mikey slowed just as the wrens dropped something solid and rectangular through the air, and he automatically reached out to catch it.

A gentle yet commanding female voice filled his head the moment his fingers touched it.

_**Mikey, children, stop running towards me, please.** _

He gasped, grabbing Renet and Casey as they neared the edge of the ravine that led to Mother Tree. They were only about ten feet away. The air stilled around them, and Klunk landed on Renet's shoulders. All of them panted for a minute in the thick patch of trees.

"What?" Casey asked.

Renet looked up at the wrens before looking at Mikey. "Is something wrong?"

Mikey held out his palm, to show what he'd caught from the wrens. It was an unmistakable piece of bark from Mother Tree's tree. Renet gasped.

"MT," Casey said in recognition, his eyes narrowing. "What's she saying?"

"She said to stop moving towards her," Mikey said, trying to think if he'd misinterpreted that sentence at all. "I don't, I don't get it —"

"Of course she doesn't want to help us, I _knew_ it," Casey said angrily. "I can't believe we trusted her. I should have been smarter."

_**Children. My wrens are telling me you are here.** _

Renet placed a finger on the bark in Mikey's hand. "Mother Tree?"

"She can't hear us, remember? It's one-way," Mikey whispered. "Like a pager."

"Is that how pagers worked back in the day?"

"I have no idea, actually."

Mother Tree spoke again, and this time, Renet could hear her, too.

_**I am so glad to hear that you are safe, but please don't come any closer to my location.** _

Despite what he'd just said to Renet, Mikey went, "Wait, why not?"

Casey looked between Mikey and Renet. Shaking his head, he grabbed a corner of the bark, too. They all could hear Mother Tree now.

 _ **I'm afraid I miscalculated how foolproof of a plan it would be to send the three of you to deliver my adopted children,**_ Mother Tree explained to them, _**And if you haven't made it past the barrier by now, you must have realized what's happening to you. I apologize for putting you at risk. I was too hasty.**_

"This is a waste of time," Casey said. "She's just going to play the victim. We need this enchantment off. I know her babies are important to her, but _I'm_ important to me, too."

Mikey looked up at the wrens above them, sitting in the branches.

He didn't get it. He didn't agree with Casey, but what was Mother Tree trying to say?

_**If I could, I would take the enchantment off of you. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't have asked, to be exact. The Miyamoto clan is too dangerous. All I can do for you now is tell you to escape the city if you somehow can. Do not come to me, children.** _

There was something ominous in what Mother Tree was saying to them.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Renet asked, panicked, looking around at the boys. "We need her to take the enchantment off! Why is she saying that?"

_**Good-bye, Mikey. I am glad I met you. I am sorry I asked for more than I should have.** _

"Huh?" Mikey stared at the bark dumbly as Mother Tree's voice faded away. His heart started to get a sinking feeling.

Renet and Casey let go of the bark, shock in their faces.

Mikey could feel their newest plan slowly falling apart.

Mother Tree didn't want to help them?

She _couldn't_ , for some reason?

"C'mon," Casey said, and started to hurry to the ravine. "I don't care what she says. We're getting her to listen to us!"

Mikey and Renet exchanged glances before following.

Casey halted by the edge of the ravine, and so did Mikey and Renet. They all stood, hidden by the foliage. Mikey wondered why Casey had stopped, but then he peered down below and gasped.

There, by her barren tree, was Mother Tree, in her tree person form, looking gentle and elegant.

But there was someone standing in front of her with dark hair, in a black suit, his back to the three teenagers who were hiding. Mother Tree looked pained as the man walked up to her. She shook her head and was saying something. Mikey couldn't hear them — they were talking too quietly, and they were too far.

Fear laced Mother Tree's eyes.

"What's going on?" Renet asked in a hush. "Who's that guy? A new yokai hunter?"

"Don't know, don't care. We have to get MT to un-curse us, or whatever," Casey said, pushing past the trees.

Mother Tree's head turned a fraction in their direction, and she seemed to see them.

 _Would this be a weird time to wave hi?_ Mikey thought. _Probably._

Multiple emotions seemed to flash through Mother Tree's face — and even from the distance, Mikey could see them. She smiled carefully, as to not alert the man in front of her about the three teenagers and their cat-yokai behind him, but it also felt like a smile for _them_ , strangely melancholic.

Strangely apologetic.

And as the smile never left her face, Mikey felt a gust of spring wind whoosh around him.

It was one of those moments in time that would come back to Mikey over and over again, like a snapshot taken on a spring evening, the sun dipping down and setting the sky alight with pink and yellow hues. With Mother Tree looking at them in the briefest of moments, with a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes, Mikey would always wonder what the polite and motherly tree-yokai had felt in that moment, all manners cast aside.

They only had minutes. Casey made a move to leap down into the ravine, but Mikey gasped, grabbing his friend's arm to stop him just in time. Casey made a confused sound, but Mikey couldn't explain how he knew they needed to stay hidden.

Somehow, for some reason, heeding Mother Tree's warning to _not run up to her_ felt extremely important to Mikey.

As he looked at the man in the suit, standing in the wet grass and mud in his fancy black shoes, there was a sense of danger that somehow _topped_ the danger of turning into a yokai forever.

And then what happened in the next moment was something Mikey would never, ever forget.

It happened fast, and without warning.

With two fingers — the index and middle — pressed together, the man reached out and jabbed Mother Tree's forehead.

Mother Tree went slack, and her entire body began to change. Something ghastly and gray spread across her brown bark skin, her seed eyes, her green moss dress. It grew and grew and grew, locking Mother Tree's sad smile in stone as Mikey and his friends watched her colors wash away.

And then she was still.

Completely still.

Mikey felt his stomach drop, and the bark fell from his fingers. Casey stumbled backwards, looking pale. Renet's eyes were blown wide, her hands over her mouth.

What had they just witnessed?

 _Miyamoto turns yokai to stone_ , Spike had told them.

The man pushed the stone statue of Mother Tree. It tipped over, and as soon as it hit the grass ground, it broke apart. Mikey couldn't move at all as he watched the man walk on top of Mother Tree's remains, breaking the brittle stone pieces apart even more. Dust from the crushed statue rose in puffs above the muddy grass.

The man let out a breath, his shoulders sighing, and brushed off his hands. He turned around, and finally Mikey could see Mayor Miyamoto's face in person.

Or, rather, what wasn't covered by the broken-in-half fox mask that he wore.

If Mikey hadn't been shocked to stillness by the yokai murder he'd just seen, he would have made a comment about the cool, festive mask. But Mikey couldn't even breathe. Miyamoto didn't seem to notice them hiding, and he wanted to keep it that way.

The garden was suddenly filled with the sounds of the wrens squeaking, crying, and the sun seemed to disappear.

"Klunk," he could hear Renet saying from somewhere behind him. "Klunk, _please!_ Remember where we got stuck? Remember that place where I got Mom to stop the car so I pretend to be throwing up on the side of the road because of carsickness but actually I was helping you get your wing unstuck? It was dusty and dirty there and you were tired but _so_ stubborn, trying to get through the barrier just so I wouldn't be lonely? Take us there, Klunky, I need you to take us to that spot _right now!_ "

Hearing the words "throwing up" made Mikey want to puke himself. He was sick, and tired, and Mother Tree was gone —

The yokai bud on his head was _super_ heavy now. It felt like it weighed twenty pounds. He stumbled backwards. He didn't even realize the world blinked around them until he looked up again.

The trees and bushes and foliage were all gone.

They weren't in Eastman Botanical Garden anymore.

Mikey didn't know where they were, but the sun had set. The wind blew harder, dust getting into his eyes. The sky was mostly blue now, the orange from the sky nearly gone.

Something _eased_ off of Mikey's head, detaching like magic.

Just then Mikey became acutely aware of the fact that his head was pounding in beat with his thumping heart. Headaches were the worst.

He was ready to go home now.

But Mikey's body decided right then that it couldn't keep standing. Feeling drained, he collapsed to the dirt ground.

Wait, the yokai buds! Had they —?

Mikey looked ahead. In the vanishing light of the sun, there were three blooming flowers in the dirt a few feet away, their eyes completely open, glowing the same colors as their petals. Casey's was pink. Renet's was yellow. And his was orange. _Nice._

Mikey wasn't sure how long he lay there, much too tired to really move or speak. It felt like ten seconds before he heard a siren, and then cracked his eyes open in the dark to see a blurry collage of red and blue police lights, flashing wildly against the grass, silhouetting his friends' collapsed forms nearby.

Regular, yokai-bud-less forms.

Someone shouted, "Found them! Three teenagers, two boys, one girl. They match the descriptions — I think we need an ambulance."

 _Ambulance? That's scary,_ Mikey thought weakly. _But… Leo, Raph, and Donnie are going to be able to see me again._

And then he thought of Mother Tree smiling at him, and he coughed up bile.

He'd had enough adventure for a while.

 _Then_ he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think! :)


	8. finally monday, serious time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! Last chapter of this fic I started months ago AHAHA. Thank you for all the kind words and/or kudos, writing this fic was extra fun because of all the encouragement and I hope you have fun reading as much as I do writing! Enjoy!!!

A cool breeze danced through Mikey's hair as he nuzzled the side of his face into a pillow, comfortable in his sleep. A lock of his bangs tickled the bridge of his nose, and he frowned, too tired to do anything about it. Too _comfortable_ , too — the mattress under him cradled him just right, and his muscles felt like _pudding_.

A hand brushed his bangs out of his face, a gentle and well-practiced move.

 _Leo_.

Mikey almost opened in his eyes, but his head protested at the first hint that a window was open, sunlight pouring through.

Wait. _His_ window, of _his_ bedroom. When had he come back?

The last thing he remembered was seeing the yokai buds blooming in the light of the setting sun, blinking brightly with their colorful eyes.

No, wait. That hadn't been the last thing.

For a few moments, he remembered waking up in a thin bed with metal handles on the sides, the entire room small and white and rumbling.

Had that been inside the ambulance?

A nice paramedic lady had helped him sit up to drink water out of a bottle, he remembered. Voices had been talking all around him, but he couldn't recall what they were saying. What Mikey _did_ know was that the sensation of water going down his throat had been distinctively replenishing. It was the most delicious water he'd ever had.

Mikey tried to sort out his dream-like memories, but he was so comfortable in his bed.

The weight of his adventure in the pocket dimension full of yokai and the knowledge of how much bigger all of it actually was felt inconsequential as his tired mind slipped under again.

_I'll get the deets later. I just need… to… rest…_

After all, if Leo was near, that meant he was safe. The growing mystery and endless questions and worries would be there again when he woke up.

* * *

When Mikey felt himself stir out of sleep, it was to the sound of Raph's voice nearby.

"He's not up yet?"

 _Typical Raph_ , Mikey thought wearily. _Judging me for just SLEEPING. Can't he see I'm super tired?_

"He exhausted himself," came Donnie's voice.

_This is why Donnie is the smart one._

"Let him sleep," Leo said from somewhere. "I called Ms. Tilley and she let me know that Renet is still sleeping, too. Like they ran a marathon or something."

Everything came back to Mikey at once at Renet's name, and remembering the craziness with the yokai, teleporting, and everything else made Mikey sit up in bed like a coiled spring set loose.

The world spun, and for a horrible moment, Mikey flinched, not wanting to be teleported or thrown through another portal.

"No! Stop!" Mikey cried, grabbing a fistful of his bedsheets.

"Mikey, whoa. _Whoa_ , slow down, buddy."

Someone rubbed his shoulder, squeezing it a little. Mikey dropped his head on the arm it was connected to, and looked up to see the eyes of Raph staring back at him with too many emotions to name.

Mikey looked around, heart beating wildly. He was in his bedroom just as he'd figured. Sun came through the window, completely and utterly daytime. He had no memory of getting into bed, but his clothes had been changed into pajamas. No teleporting. No magic circles. Mikey sagged into Raph's arm, not caring if his older brother was going to make fun of him.

But Raph whispering "It's okay, you're safe," without a trace of mockery had Mikey internally wincing. Right. He'd scared them all pretty bad.

"I'm sorry," Mikey blurted out to Raph, immediately breaking out into a string of coughs. His throat felt like he hadn't used it in a million years. _Yowch_. Was this what happened when you spent a day with a yokai bud on your head that slowly leeched energy off of you and _almost_ turned you into a yokai?

"Here," Mikey heard Donnie say as a glass of water was pushed into his hands.

Mikey gratefully accepted, taking small sips as he felt his brothers watching him. Raph hadn't left his side, sitting on the bed with him. Donnie had dragged over the chair from Mikey's desk to sit by him, his glasses askew and hair even messier than when Mikey had last seen him. And _Leo_ —

Leo stood the farthest away from Mikey's bed, his jacket over a shirt that looked like it had been thrown on backwards, in a rush. That singular detail was unsettling to Mikey — Leo wasn't ever anything less than _perfect_. Even now, he held his expression at a perfect neutral, practically unreadable as he looked Mikey over, his eyes scanning him for any injuries. Equal amounts of copious guilt and relief filled Mikey. Guilt, for what trouble he'd put them through, and relief, that they could see him again.

"Hi," Mikey said in a small voice.

A smile cracked through Leo's steady features. From across the room, the eldest Hamato dug his hands into his pockets, his voice unbearably soft.

" _Hi_ , kiddo."

"Leo, I'm sorry," Mikey said, lowering his water and ignoring when Donnie tried to bring it back up to his mouth. He pulled his legs out from underneath the covers — thankful that he wasn't green anymore — and planted them on the floor as he stood, facing Leo, ready to own up. "It was… my fault. I met a yokai and I agreed to help it. I didn't mean to disappear."

Leo inhaled sharply.

 _Here it comes,_ Mikey thought with a gulp, and lowered his head, bracing himself for the scolding. _Bye, Not-grounded-for-life Mikey. It was nice knowing ya._

"It's fine, Mikey. But how are you feeling?"

Mikey waited a second, and then blinked in confusion. Wait, what?

Had Leo not heard him say 'I met a yokai and agreed to _help_ it'?

Mikey looked at his oldest brother again, raising his head and trying to see where Angry Leo was at. Or Disappointed Leo. Or _Furiously Frustrated_ Leo, even — these were versions of Leo that used to pop up a lot more last year, whenever Mikey screwed up and Leo didn't know what to _do_ with him — but none of them were there.

Heck, not even the version of Leo from last Friday, when Mikey had asked him about Klunk, was present: the _End-Of-Discussion_ Leo.

In fact, Leo didn't look like he was going to yell at Mikey at all, even though Mikey had just brought up the touchiest subject — yokai. And revealed that he'd purposefully gotten tangled up with one. Mikey wasn't sure which version of Leo he was looking at right now.

 _If asking me how I'm feeling is a trick question, I don't know how to respond!_ Mikey thought frantically.

"I'm sorry," he just said again, feeling dumb and at a loss.

Leo's mouth deepened into a frown, and he took a couple strides towards him with a look of concern.

"You've said that already. Do you feel sick?"

Leo's hand was then on his forehead, and finally he was _close enough_ for Mikey to peer into his oldest brother's eyes. To anyone else, it would have looked like Leo was acting perfectly normal — aside from the backwards shirt thing — but in an instant, Mikey realized why he couldn't get a read on him.

Leo was holding it all in.

It was _exactly_ what Leo had done in the months after their father had suddenly died. Held himself together for everyone else.

And it wasn't just Leo who was acting weird. Normally, Donnie would be questioning him _immediately_. But his inquisitive older brother remained silent, just chewing on his bottom lip, waiting for Mikey to talk. And Raph choosing to be gentle like this instead of angry felt like a huge personality shift. But also… Raph wouldn't fake act like this. If Raph was being gentle with him, then something was _seriously_ wrong.

 _Oh_.

He'd scared them all _that_ bad.

Mikey felt like a turtle who'd awoken from hibernation all too soon and desperately wanted to crawl back into his shell to ensure his survival.

"You don't have a temperature," Leo said, moving his hand.

"I'm okay," Mikey said quickly. "I'm just _sorry_. I'm _really_ sorry. I messed up, Leo — I know you called the cops and Raph and Mona were looking for me, and then… then… did you pick me up from the ambulance?"

"Yeah," Donnie said with a huge sigh, looking relieved that they'd started talking. "The hospital called us. Not just us, but also Renet's and Casey's parents after they found you on the edge of Eastman."

"Oh. Good."

It was good knowing that his friends were safe and at home after the whole thing. Mikey glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost nine in the morning, which made Mikey pause and stare at it. It wasn't already _Monday_ , was it?

"Yeah, we're all going to school a little late today," Donnie piped up, as if reading his mind.

Mikey looked at his brothers in alarm.

" _What?_ "

"I don't have class until ten, and I called your guys' schools to let them know," Leo said. "Besides, the police let the school know about your guys' little ' _hiking trip._ '"

Mikey stared as Leo made air quotes and then tried to process it.

"Our _what?_ "

Donnie supplied the explanation. "Apparently your friends said that it was a hiking trip that all of you forgot to bring water on, and all of you fainted somewhere right outside the border of Eastman."

"Not that we really believed that," Raph pointed out.

Okay, Mikey _kind of_ remembered that.

As he was drinking water in the ambulance, Renet and Casey had been awake enough to do most of the talking, responding to the other paramedic's questions of _where have you kids been_ and _what were you doing out here?_ They'd been giving answers that the paramedics would believe, but Mikey had decided that going to sleep was what he'd rather be doing, so he barely remembered anything after that.

It was a clever answer, and Mikey had no doubt that Renet had thought of it first, like she'd thought of the trick with Klunk, to get him to teleport out of Eastman.

Silence filled the space between the four of them once again, and Donnie had that look on his face that usually meant he was about to implode into ten different questions and even more sub-questions. But he was silenced with a look from Raph. Mikey looked between them, and they looked back at him, waiting.

_They're treating me like I'm made of glass, aren't they?_

"I'm sorry," Mikey tried again.

"It's okay," Leo said reassuringly from in front of him. "We're not mad."

Mikey kind of wanted to laugh, because Leo _should_ have been mad at him. But here they were, being nice and careful with him because they loved him and he loved _them_ , so _so_ much. A lump suddenly formed in Mikey's throat, closing up any form of words, and he took two shaky steps to throw his arms around Leo, burying his face in his shoulder. Leo's arms pulled him in without missing a beat. The hug being returned around him filled him with such an immense feeling, Mikey couldn't stop a few tears from slipping out.

Leo wasted no time in cupping the sides of Mikey's face and pushing the tears away with his thumbs.

"Aw, Mikey, don't _cry_ ," he laughed, but his own voice sounded a little thick.

"This is because of _you!_ Can you guys just _yell_ at me?" Mikey sniffed. "You're acting all nice and it's making it _worse_."

 _That_ made his brothers laugh.

"You _did_ break curfew," Donnie piped up then, seemingly unable to hold back. "Like, _royally_. Twenty-nine hours."

"Wow, dude," Raph said dryly.

"He _wants_ a lecture!"

Mikey blinked away the last bit of moisture in his eyes before stepping back. "Thanks, Donnie."

"I'm… not _super_ pleased about the yokai thing," Leo said, getting Mikey's attention. "But more than anything, I'm just glad to have you home. Safe."

"You scared us, man," Raph said gruffly, ruffling Mikey's hair. "So… not trying to _bombard_ you, but you want to share with the class what happened after you left on Saturday to go to Murakami's?"

"Yeah." Mikey took a deep breath, then paused. "Okay, so actually this thing happened? The day before. On Friday."

Looking up, he saw that he had all three of his brothers' undivided attention. Leo nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"We were playing dodgeball for last period," Mikey continued. "And I started hearing a voice in my head telling me she needed help."

His brothers' eyes widened as Mikey explained how the wrens had been flying above him, dropping bark in his hair so Mother Tree's voice could be projected right into his mind. He told them everything — how they'd found Mother Tree in the Eastman Botanical Garden, how they'd been mistaken for yokai by yokai hunters, how Tuli had helped them escape, how they'd been mistaken for yokai _again_ by yokai hunters, and finally, how Klunk had gotten them out of City Hall and they'd figured the whole thing out just barely before sunset.

At each new twist of the story, Mikey watched as his brothers' mouths dropped open, their faces taking on varying degrees of shock. _Especially_ when he got around to telling them how the _mayor_ was involved in all of it.

"And um… that's how I spent Mother's Day," Mikey said with an awkward laugh.

Leo, Raph, and Donnie looked as if they were at a loss for words.

Donnie's eyes were bugging out.

"Wh-whoa whoa whoa, _hold up._ You were _here?_ " Donnie asked, pointing down with both his index fingers. "You were here and Leo and I couldn't _see_ you?"

"Right, it was like I was turning into a yokai. Renet's mom and —," Mikey paused, not sure who that _Simon_ guy had been exactly, but he wasn't Renet's dad. Mikey shrugged and said, "Renet's mom couldn't see any of us, and we were standing in her living room."

"That's… _insane_ ," Donnie declared. "I didn't even know that could happen."

Raph was staring at Mikey like he couldn't believe Mikey was there at all, in front of him. His hot-headed brother looked like he wanted to punch something (which was normal, but this time it looked like he wanted to punch something on _Mikey's_ behalf).

"So you helped a yokai who almost _turned you into one?_ "

"It wasn't Mother Tree's fault. She…," Mikey trailed off, thinking about the last words she'd said to him.

_I'm sorry I asked for more than I should have._

"Of _course_ it's that yokai's fault," Raph said vehemently. "She put you in danger."

" _Technically_ , Raph, so did everyone else. Except for those yokai in the other little world you went to," Donnie said to Mikey, adjusting his glasses. "This is quite interesting."

"Try _messed up,_ Don," Raph said.

Mikey rubbed the side of his face. It was true, yokai could be dangerous. But most of the _danger_ that they'd faced this weekend had been a result of the _humans_ chasing them, distracting them from a goal that wouldn't have taken that long to do otherwise.

Throughout the story, Leo had remained oddly silent, listening. Now he spoke up, his face pulled into something pensive.

"So the mayor. Yuuki Miyamoto. _He's_ a part of all this yokai business?"

Mikey nodded a little, and shrugged, giving Leo his best ' _I guess so_ ' face. Raph and Donnie looked at each other, then at Leo. No one said anything, but Mikey had a feeling they were all thinking about Usagi Miyamoto, one of Leo's friends at college. Mikey wondered if Usagi was part of the Miyamoto clan, too.

With a sigh, Leo broke the silence by clapping his hands together.

"Okay, guys," he said, rubbing his palms. "Let's put a pin in this, at least for now. Let's get some breakfast, and then get ready for school."

"Boring," Raph joked, standing up and patting Mikey on the shoulder — unfairly _hard,_ as usual. "Good to have you back, Mike."

" _Ow,_ " Mikey complained, rubbing the spot, but he felt himself grinning anyway. "Good to _be_ back."

Leo turned to leave for the kitchen. "How does oatmeal sound, Mikey?"

Mikey's stomach rumbled. "Good. _Great_. But, uh… first one thing."

"Anything," was Leo's automatic answer, turning back to Mikey.

"I _really_ need a shower."

* * *

Going to school late was a surreal feeling within itself, even without any supernatural precursors. And getting his physics test back during the final period of the day? Surreal _nervousness_. But then one glance at the grade he'd gotten, and Mikey couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

He'd never done this well on _any_ test before. But there it was, in red pen.

An _A minus._

_Totally surreal!_

As he found his seat, Mikey saw that Renet had a serious look on her face, her eyes not leaving the substitute teacher as he continued to call out names. She glanced at Mikey, a smile splitting her nervous face as she wordlessly lifted her thumb and swiveled it up and down, a clear question in her eyes: _how did it go?_

Mikey gave her a thumbs up, and they fist-bumped.

"… Jennika… Lita… and finally… Renet," their sub finished calling off, handing tests back.

The nervous look back on her face, Renet hopped up to collect her test. Mikey gave her an encouraging smile before feeling his stomach growl — for which he took out a granola bar from his backpack. Jennika was at the front of the class first, letting out a scoff as she turned the sheet around to show someone near her. Lita took her test, pleasantly smiled at whatever grade she'd gotten. The sub handed Renet her test back.

"As we all get settled in for class, I'm happy to report that Mrs. Campbell had her baby, and they're both doing great," the sub announced. "It's a baby girl."

A bunch of kids including Mikey (his mouth full of granola) went, "Awww!", and excited chatter began to fill the classroom as the sub moved back to start class with the plans left by their physics teacher. Mikey watched Renet as she returned, shifting into a slight _uh-oh_ mood because of the sullen look in her eyes.

"How… did it go?" he asked carefully after swallowing his bite.

After a second of looking sad, Renet broke into a silly wide grin and turned her test over to show him. _A minus._ Mikey gasped, a and showed his own test to match.

"OMG, we _match!_ " Renet laughed with an ear-splitting grin.

Mikey let out a ginormous sigh of relief, sinking over the desk like he was pudding.

"You _tricked_ me for a moment," he complained, giving her big puppy eyes and his cutest pout. "I can't believe you _did_ that."

"Ha! I just wanted to see the look on your face!" Renet laughed, _evilly_. Then she sobered, looking at her test in amazement. "I was like, so nervous. I didn't think I'd do this good."

"Me _neither_. Studying with you last week really helped."

"You're a really good study buddy."

"No, _you_ are!"

"No, _you!_ "

"No, okay, you know what? Back _atcha!_ " Mikey said, doing corny finger guns — a few kids who saw cringed, but it also got Renet to snort-laugh, which was a _win_. He lowered his voice. "We're also pretty good yokai-adventuring buddies."

"No kidding," Renet agreed with a sigh. "Although I'm glad it's over. I _missed_ having my head all to myself."

A couple hours ago, Mikey and Renet had caught each other passing in the hallway, and had to stop to just _talk_. Renet had burst into an excited ramble about how she'd slept in late and how Klunk was too and so on and so forth _really_ fast — earning surprised looks from a few passing teachers and kids who obviously still had the impression that Renet was shy all the time — and Mikey had been rushing to thank her for coming up with the hiking story for the ambulance people ("Hiking was the first thing I could think of, and Casey totally went with it. We make great liars, who knew?").

Mikey had gotten a text in their group chat from Casey, also earlier in the day — the older teen had let them know that he'd been so tired that he was skipping the whole day at the high school. It was _totally_ understandable.

"So," Renet said casually, as they watched the substitute teacher struggle with getting the projector up. "About your brothers. You told them what _really_ happened, right?"

"Oh. Yeah," Mikey answered. Leaning into his elbow resting on his desk, he ate the rest of his granola bar. After he finished, he casually looked up and saw that Renet was looking at him expectantly. " _Oh_ , you mean like, 'what did they say, how did they react' type thing! _Ooooh_ , I thought you were just asking."

"Was… Leo terribly mad at you?" Renet asked.

Mikey tilted his head. "No, Leo wasn't mad at me. Which is a new thing, because even talking about yokai is usually enough to set him off. I have a feeling that I'm still in trouble for y'know, doing exactly what he'd told me _not_ to do. But he didn't explode at me."

"Well, that's good!" Renet said brightly.

"What about you? How did your mom take it when you told her?"

"Oh, I, uh," Renet paused, then shook her head. "It's, um, not like that with my mom. I can't talk to her about yokai like you can with your brothers. She can't see them… and… uh, I've never told her that I can?"

Mikey blinked.

Out of all the crazy things that had happened this weekend — and all the human gossip from yokai and yokai gossip from humans that Mikey had heard — somehow hearing _this_ was one of the most surprising.

"I know it's weird," Renet blurted, her mouth twisted in a little embarrassed smile.

Mikey opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, changed his mind, and tried again.

"But you've been able to see them literally _all your life._ "

Class was beginning to start, everyone lowering their voices from the side chatter as the projector finally turned on and the sub called for everyone to turn to page 109 of their textbooks.

Mikey and Renet glanced at each other before falling quiet as well. They'd have to resume their conversation later. Mikey wasn't even sure if there was a conversation to _continue_. Mikey'd had the idea that _Casey's_ folks didn't know, sure — but Renet had been seeing yokai a lot longer than either of them. Mikey had just assumed Renet told her mother about _all_ the yokai stuff.

But if Renet hadn't told her mother, then that was that.

Finding his book from his backpack, Mikey flipped to the page and tried to pay attention to what the sub was talking about. A minute later, he felt Renet nudge him. He looked over to see that she'd slid her notebook over to him discretly, having written something in the margins of her notes.

In Renet's handwriting, it read, _My mom always thought I was just talking about imaginary friends when I was little. And by the time I learned that it wasn't something most people could see, I stopped talking about them. The yokai around wherever I lived were always really small and harmless and never bothered me growing up — so I never had a reason to tell my mom about any of it. But now big yokai things are happening in Eastman and telling her now would be kind of hard — it's like kind of become this BIG THING in my head. If that makes sense?_

Mikey glanced at Renet. His friend was struggling to smile, looking embarrassed and like she was on the verge of apologizing unnecessarily. Maybe this had been something she'd been reluctant to tell him about because she was afraid of being judged.

Mikey picked up his own pencil.

 _So I take it ur mom doesn't know about the spider lady that tried to literally eat us last Feb,_ he wrote, and added a silly, comical doodle of stick-figure versions of themselves, stuck in a spiderweb.

Renet read that and eyed his drawing.

 _Too soon,_ she wrote, but she was smiling.

 _It's okay, you know,_ Mikey wrote. _The only reasons my brothers know is because they saw me stuck between two dimensions and I didn't know how else to explain where the bottom half of my body had gone._

Pushing the notebook back, Renet read his message and smiled, shoulders relaxing. She spoke her next words, in a whisper that Mikey almost missed.

"You always know how to cheer me up!"

* * *

A big feeling still lingered in Mikey's chest as the class period drone on. The way Mother Tree had been turned to stone had been so abrupt, there had barely been any time to process. His heart felt… heavy, thinking about it. He said so to Renet after the bell rang and class was dismissed.

"Me too," she replied quietly.

It was rare that they spoke to each other with serious tones, because neither of them were usually the _glum_ type. Mikey pulled on his backpack, letting out a deep breath. Renet did the same, and they started walking down the hallway towards the exit together. Loud chatter of the studens around them filled the silence between them, but it didn't drown out their serious atmosphere.

Finally, Renet spoke up. "I know Casey got a little… peeved back there. But… Mother Tree didn't seem… _bad_ , though. Even though… she almost got us turned into yokai."

"That's what _I_ was thinking." Mikey shoved his hands into his pockets.

 _Why do you think Miyamoto DID that?_ He wanted to ask. _What does he get out out turning yokai into stone? And what was up with his mask?_

Renet took a deep breath. "Hey. I'm just wondering. Mother Tree said something about new yokai… _arriving_ in the garden every springtime, right?"

"Yeah."

"So… if it's an _every year_ thing, who do you think was taking her babies out of Eastman before us?"

They reached the school entrance, where kids were walking out in torrents or waiting for their rides. Mikey slowed, and Renet matched his pace. Mikey hadn't even _thought_ of that.

"Dunno. Leatherhead, maybe?" Mikey said it as a joke, because there was no way for them to know. If that weekend had been any indication, there were probably quite a handful of yokai hunters. Maybe some of them didn't share the same beliefs that Miyamoto seemed to.

"That's, like, turning into our answer for everything," Renet said with a chuckle. "'Who did it?' _Leatherhead!_ "

Mikey grinned as they stepped out of the double doors that led into the main school pickup area. Renet usually got a ride home, and sometimes Mikey would hang out with her while she waited before he started his walk back. They sat down at an empty picnic table under a large oak tree in the courtyard where a few other kids were, working on homework or talking on their cell phones. Mikey pulled out his phone and texted his brothers that he was going to start walking back in five minutes, because now Leo was really strict on _check-ins._

"My mom gave me my cell phone back," Renet said cheerfully, pulling hers out and proceeding to send a swift text to her mother.

Mikey was grateful for the subject change, glad to be moving away from the yokai stuff.

"Are things better now? With you and your mom?" he asked.

Renet nodded, her smile softening. "She was really worried about me. Mad at first, then she wouldn't stop hugging me and _crying_ and she even said she was sorry for our fight. And I did, too! And it was like, _a movie moment_ , Mikey, except without the _background music._ It was like, just our sniffles. And the sound of pancakes flipping, because she made pancakes for breakfast. Klunk devoured five and I had to pretend _I_ was that hungry."

"Whoa, Renet, that's _amazing!_ I mean, yes, the pancakes, but everything else, too!" Mikey exclaimed. "I bet that feels really good, now that you've apologized."

"It really does! I should get into fights more often, just for the sole purpose of making up!"

"It's _true_. And now you can butter her up even more since you aced that physics test."

"I like the way you think, Mikey," Renet said, nodding her head sagely. She grinned. "I'll show her, but actually Mom will be like, _where's the A plus?_ "

" _No_."

Renet cracked up at Mikey's face. "Yup. Maybe not, I don't know. I think our fight softened her up, so neither of us are making a fuss about the little things. I missed her a lot while we were in the yokai dimension."

Mikey nodded. He _totally_ could relate. He'd missed all his brothers, but Leo like _crazy_.

"I made her a belated Mother's Day card. And an apology card. And then she lectured me on the importance of safe hiking protocol."

Renet trailed off, blinking and poking her fingers through the holes of the picnic table. Suddenly she groaned, sinking her face into the picnic table.

"Uh oh," Mikey said, feeling cheeky. "I didn't know you felt that way about the picnic table."

" _OMG,_ leave us alone, we're in a happy relationship!" Renet complained, turning her face so her cheek was squished against the holes. Then she sat up. "Okay, seriously though… I need… I think I need to tell you something."

"Yup, picnic table and you are an item."

"Seriously! It's serious time."

"Okay, okay," Mikey said. "Serious time."

Why not? All of their conversations were feeling pretty serious today, actually.

"Okay, so, like, _maybe_ it's not that serious, actually," she amended. "But… I… want to get it off my chest."

 _Did she discover a new yokai? Does she actually hate my jokes and is only laughing to be polite?_ Mikey wasn't sure which one was worse — he needed a break from yokai and he'd be _crushed_ if Renet didn't actually like his jokes! Whatever it was, Mikey nodded to show her that he was all ears.

Renet took a deep breath. "The fight my mom and I had… it was about…" She winced, breaking off. "Promise not to tell anyone, okay? Not Casey or Mr. Murakami. I told them I fought with my mom and that's it, but… they don't know the details and I don't want them to know!"

His best friend was looking a little red in the face, embarrassed and upset.

"I promise, Renet," Mikey said, and meant it. But he was _starting_ to get a _teensy_ bit worried. He considered Renet his _best_ friend because she made him laugh and had awesome jokes. But they'd never had a conversation like this — all serious. On the edge of emotions that weren't… all happy.

"You know… my parents are divorced," Renet said finally, looking convinced. "Mom and I moved here from another city, but my dad moved to another city, too. Not Eastman, but… not far? Like, far, but not across the country or anything. He's in New York still."

"Got it, cool." Mikey cringed at himself. _No, that's not cool, why would you say that?_

"But… I talk to him on the weekends and stuff. Every other weekend. Sometimes he's busy, but… he and my mom _never_ used to talk at all. But then recently they started to, and I thought 'oh, that's nice' and I didn't realize I was doing this, but… um… I thought that they would — OMG this is so embarrassing!" Renet slapped her cheeks, and lowered her voice, leaning in towards Mikey. "I thought that they would _get_ _back together_. I really thought they were getting on better terms. But… then… this weekend, after I came home on Friday..."

 _Simon_ appeared in Mikey's mind. "Oh."

Renet nodded. "She's had this friend for a while, and I thought they were just _work_ friends or something boring like that. But that's what she told me on Friday, that she's started dating Simon."

"Simon," Mikey said. "The guy in your living room."

"The guy in my living room," Renet agreed. "He's got this son who's kind of a bully, and… it's not about liking or not liking them, it's more about… what I thought was wrong. And I was surprised by the way things changed so fast. And that's why I — I just got mad. And I hate myself for getting mad, because my mom doesn't d-deserve that, and I… all that yokai business happened and I felt like the worst daughter in the world because of our fight. And even though it's okay now, and we've made up on the outside, I still feel… icky _inside_."

Mikey sat there, listening to Renet's words. He didn't know what to say.

"That's… okay, Renet."

"I feel bad," Renet said, sniffing and laughing despite herself. "It's just like another big thing I can't bring myself to tell her about. But I wanted to tell you, Mikey. I like talking to you. It's easy talking to you."

Mikey was _totally_ flattered. But… _ditto_.

"I like talking to you, too," he said. "It was easy telling you about my mom and dad. You know, how I don't have them. It sometimes feels like this big scary thing if people don't know."

Like with Jennika back on Friday, when she'd asked him about what he was planning to give to his mother on Mother's Day. It felt like a _big thing_ he couldn't share.

Renet seemed to get it, nodding along. "Sometimes it feels weird holding stuff in. And makes us feel…"

"Icky," Mikey finished.

Renet hummed, crossing her arms and lowering her chin into it, eyes lost in thought. "Maybe, like, that's why it helps talking it out."

"It… does." It _did_. He smiled, nudging her elbow. "Hey, Renet?"

"Hm?"

"You might not be ready now, but if you _do_ tell your mom how you feel, I don't think she's going to consider you a bad daughter. You're way too nice and smart and good."

"So are _you_."

"No, _you_."

Renet giggled. "No, _you_."

"No way. _You_."

* * *

Back home, Mikey threw his backpack down at the closet, and practically dove into Leo's arms, smacking his oldest brother in the face with his physics test.

"Look at THIS MASTERPIECE!" he shouted through their apartment — and more importantly, so that Leo would hear him through his earbuds.

The window over their dining table next to the kitchen was open, letting in the fresh breeze. Raph and Donnie weren't home yet. Leo had been sitting on a stool at the counter space in the kitchen, his laptop open and a notebook and textbook spread out. His homework, from the looks of it — but as Mikey practically climbed Leo's shoulders in excitement, his brother was pulling out his earbuds and laughing, totally distracted now.

"What is this?" Leo asked, pulling the test off his face and peering at it. He fell silent in shock at the A, and flipped the test over, as if not believing it, before exclaiming, " _Whoa!_ Mikey! This is amazing!"

"I know, I know, it's awesome, I'm a physics _genius_ now."

Leo reached back and pressed his head closer to him. Mikey wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders to complete the backwards hug.

"Good _job_ , Mikey," Leo said, sounding extremely impressed. "This is great. I know you were working hard last week."

"Eh, well, you know. It was easy studying with Renet," Mikey said with a shrug, trying to play it cool. Okay, okay, he couldn't. He broke out into giggles before singing, " _I got an A minussss._ "

"I am _so_ proud of you," Leo said, setting the test down. "You know that, right?"

Mikey jumped off Leo's back and the stool, heading straight for the freezer where the pizza rolls were. "Uh-oh. This isn't going to be a thing you _expect_ from now on, right? I like it when people have low expectations of me."

" _No_ , silly." Leo snorted, lips turning upward as he gazed at Mikey. He stood and put the test on the fridge with an ice cream cone magnet. "I'll always be proud of you. But please, keep these high grades coming."

Mikey made a face, just to be dramatic about it, and Leo grinned smugly. Popping some pizza rolls into the microwave, Mikey spotted a new change in the kitchen. There, by the toaster in the corner was the picture of Baby Leo and their mother, the same one Mikey had found on Friday. It stood quietly in the corner in a humble brown frame, Daffodil Hamato's silent laugh washing over them.

It was a nice place for that picture.

"I'll text Raph and Donnie to pick up something from Mr. Murakami's on the way home, for dinner," Leo said, closing his laptop. "How does that sound?"

"It sounds _delicious_ and amazing and you're the _best_. Can I have the Super Spice Special, Dragon Fire Noodles doused in Volcanic Lava Oil Chili Sauce?"

"Ha! No."

"Aw, bummer. A guy's gotta try," Mikey quipped, pulling out the pizza rolls as the microwave beeped. "I know you've got a billion things to do, but do you have time for snack time with your favorite Mikey?"

Leo put aside his homework. " _Always_."

They didn't bother going to the table — Mikey just hoisted himself up onto the kitchen counter with his arms. The pizza rolls were hot to touch. The steam was visible in the air for a few seconds before the breeze from outside blew it away. It was quiet for a while as they snacked. Then Mikey's eyes went to his backpack, a smile tugging his lips. He and Leo started talking at the same time.

"I've been meaning to ask —"

"I had a _thing_ to give —" Mikey broke off. "Sorry. Go ahead."

Leo suddenly took a great interest in his pizza roll, breaking it apart. "I've been wondering. Last Friday, when we were looking for a picture frame, you didn't tell me about the yokai voice in your head."

Mikey nodded, slowly. "Right. Right."

"Why not? I mean, you should be able to tell me anything." A hurt look approached Leo's face as he glanced at Mikey, their eyes meeting. "Do you not trust me?"

"What? No! I do, I _do_ ," Mikey rushed to say, embarrassed. "It's not _that_."

"Then why didn't you ask me for help?"

 _Help?_ Mikey blinked.

"I guess I didn't even think about that. I thought… I guess I thought you'd be mad stressed. Or worried. You don't even like yokai."

"What? No, it's… I don't like yokai who _hurt_ you," Leo clarified. "And there's no way I _wouldn't_ be worried about you, _regardless_ of whether you told me or not — and this weekend _proved_ that."

Mikey nodded. He kind of got that _now_.

"Listen. I get that I can't see them, kiddo. But you _could_ have told me. I _want_ you to tell me when stuff like this happens. When _any_ kind of stuff happens."

"But that's not fair," Mikey said softly.

Leo looked at him.

Mikey took a deep breath. "Sometimes it's not easy talking about yokai stuff with you — you get _stubborn_. You were all, 'that's it, end of discussion!' on Friday, remember?"

Leo looked defensive. "But that's different, you were — " but then he broke off, taking a deep breath. "You're right. I did end the conversation."

"We were talking about Klunk. Who has _never_ hurt me, by the way," Mikey pointed out. "He's only ever saved me. Twice, now."

"Okay. That's… fair."

"I just… you weren't in the mood to listen on Friday, but I was super curious still, so I thought I could just talk about it with Casey and Renet and… spare you the grief? I guess that's how I justified it in my head," Mikey explained. "But it wasn't right. We _never_ know what we're getting into, with yokai."

Leo nodded slowly. "You're right."

The words washed over Mikey like some kind of fountain of youth, and he perked up from where he leaned on the counter. "About what? Please sing my praises."

Leo gave him a wry smile, drawing his fingers against the plate of pizza rolls. "You're right about being wrong." Mikey pouted at that. "You're wiser than we give you credit for, Mikey."

"Gee, _thanks_."

"No, for real, too. I…" Leo took a deep breath. "You used to tell Dad about all kinds of stuff that bogged you down, remember? I'm not Dad, but it's… I want you to feel comfortable talking to me about stuff." Leo reached out with a hand and set it on Mikey's forearm. "I want to know if there's anything bothering my little brothers. And if I'm ever being… _stubborn_ , just let me know that and I'll cut it out so I can _hear_ you out. How does that sound?"

Mikey swallowed, feeling emotional — both touched from the way Leo cared about him, and hurt that he'd hurt Leo even by accident. He picked up a pizza roll and plopped it in his mouth, deep in thought.

"K."

"Wow, harsh," Leo said with a huff. "A one syllable response, got it."

Mikey choked on the pizza roll. "No, sorry, it's just — I'm just surprised!"

"I was trying to open up and you just… wow. The rejection," Leo said, bringing a hand to his chest. "It stings."

Trying not to giggle so hard, Mikey leapt down from the counter to get something from his backpack. Pulling it out, he turned back around and handed it to Leo.

"I was going to give this to you," Mikey said sheepishly. "Made it in school. But since you're being _sweet_ , I think it makes sense to give it to you now."

Leo looked down, and Mikey watched as his oldest brother's face took in what the card was in realization. "A Mother's Day card? You made one for me?"

The card was a spectacle of glitter and colorful gel pens that had some of Mikey's _best_ doodles, in his humble opinion. He wasn't the greatest with words, so he'd drawn a bunch of doodles of stick-figure Leo doing different things for Mikey. Cooking, cleaning, helping him with homework, taking care of him when he was sick, playing volleyball, teaching him something new.

"You're the best at taking care of me," Mikey said sheepishly. "Even if sometimes we need to listen to each other better. I just wanted you to know that."

Leo's eyes were shiny when he looked back up at Mikey, and drew him into a hug.

"Oof," Mikey said, but didn't waste time in putting his arms around Leo in return.

"I… this is…" Leo sounded like he was at a loss for words, and he hugged Mikey even tighter.

Mikey shifted in the embrace, laughing into Leo's neck as his brother refused to let go. He hummed, closing his eyes. "I feel like this card is making you happier than the test, bro."

"I love you," Leo muttered, holding Mikey tightly.

Mikey smiled. "Love you too."

Mikey loved the springtime. It meant that new flowers were blooming, wrens were singing, and summer vacation was right around the corner. It meant more open windows, more honesty, and more family time. And as Raph and Donnie came back home with carry-out from Mr. Murakami's, eyes widening in excitement at the smell of fresh pizza rolls, Mikey's ears was filled with the sounds of home — and it was kinda the best sound of spring, in his opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! let me know what you thought!
> 
> Also I made a tumblr, so if you want to ask me questions about my fics or just say hi, I'd be delighted :) Find me on tumblr as [adelfie](https://adelfie.tumblr.com/).


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